F 

» 


SOUTHERN  BRANCH, 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA, 

LIBRARY, 

ANGELES,  CAUF. 


C 


A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 


A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

Data  on  Children,  Artists, 
and  Teachers 


A  Symposium 


With  Introduction  by 

F.  M.  McMURRY 

Professor  of  Elementary  Education,  Teachers  College, 
Columbia  University 


NEW  YORK 
E.  P.  DUTTON  &  COMPANY 

681  FIFTH  AVENUE 


Copyright,  1922, 
By  E.  P.  BUTTON  &  COMPANY 

AU  right*  reterotd 


Printed  *n  the  United  State*  of  America 


L-B 

• 

FOREWORD 

THE  Bird  School,  Peterborough,  was  founded 
in  the  summer  of  1917  by  Joanne  Bird  Shaw  (Mrs. 
Arthur  Johnson).  In  common  with  many  other 
parents,  Mrs.  Johnson  had  for  several  years  felt 
that  during  the  long  summer  school  vacation,  often 
from  June  until  October,  the  hiatus  in  the  sys- 
tematic mental  training  of  young  children  was 
a  very  serious  handicap  to  them  and  entailed 
much  loss  of  effectiveness  in  the  autumn  resump- 
tion of  school  work,  when  several  weeks  are  an- 
nually spent  in  the  painful  effort  to  re-connect 
with  long  dropped  work  and  to  re-establish  habits 
of  attention  and  application.  Her  single  aim, 
then,  in  founding  the  school  was  to  provide  for  her 
own  children,  for  those  of  her  summer  neighbors, 
and  for  a  small  group  of  the  Peterborough  village 
children,  during  the  months  of  July  and  August, 
the  best  educational  instruction  at  her  command. 
This  instruction  was  to  be  combined  with  exercise 
and  play.  Mrs.  Johnson  built  her  school  on  a 
height  beside  the  mountains,  four  miles  from  the 
village,  on  her  own  estate  of  some  six  hundred 
wooded  acres, — a  charming  stone  building  with,  in 
addition,  open  air  pavilions  and  class  rooms,  a 
laboratory,  a  work-shop  for  carpentry  and  a  com- 
pletely equipped  playground. 

From  the  very  beginning  she  secured  the  serv- 
ices of  some  of  the  most  accomplished  teachers  of 


vi  FOREWORD 

America,  teachers  of  a  rank  in  the  academic  world 
of  higher  education  which  would  preclude  their  de- 
voting their  time  to  a  school  for  young  children 
did  not  the  experiment  occur  in  summer  and  did 
it  not  also  offer  possibilities  of  exceptional  inter- 
est to  them.  Thus  each  day  from  nine  until  half 
past  twelve,  about  forty  children  received  unusu- 
ally competent  instruction  in  Literature,  Art,  Sci- 
ence, and  Music.  This  instruction  proved  to  be 
different,  both  in  character  and  in  method,  from 
that  of  the  ordinary  school  curriculum,  as  may 
readily  be  seen  from  the  stenographic  reports  of 
the  classes.  In  the  second  year  Mrs.  Johnson 
engaged  an  eminent  authority  on  child-psychol- 
ogy, Doctor  Florence  Mateer,  who  carried  out  in 
the  school  the  new  scientific  and  quantitative 
Intelligence  and  Educational  tests.  These  not  only 
gave  valuable  data  in  themselves  for  parents  and 
other  interested  observers,  but  also  aided  the 
teachers  in  gauging  each  pupil  and  thus  in  adapt- 
ing his  work  to  individual  needs. 

In  the  third  year  of  the  school  the  founder 
resolved  to  try  the  experiment  of  getting  several 
well-known  workers  in  their  respective  subjects  to 
instruct  the  children.  In  the  ancient  world  it  was 
demanded  of  a  teacher  that,  first  of  all,  in  addition 
to  his  skill  in  expounding  the  works  of  other  mas- 
ters, he  should  have  in  himself  something  of  par- 
ticular value  to  impart :  in  our  modern  world  too 
often  the  mere  pedagogical  equipment  of  a  teacher 
is  the  first  consideration,  and  what  he  has  in  him 
that  may  add  to  the  world's  knowledge,  wisdom, 
or  happiness  is  regarded  as  of  minor  importance. 
In  the  belief  that  no  one  else  could  give  the  chil- 


FOREWORD  vii 

dren  the  same  interest  in  Music  as  a  composer,  in 
Literature  as  a  writer,  in  Art  as  a  painter  or 
sculptor,  she  sought  out  creative  workers  for  the 
school  staff.  Thus  the  children  might  gain  a  truer 
initial  understanding  and  a  warmer  appreciation 
of  these  subjects  from  a  little  group  of  practising 
artists.  The  idea  was  certainly  well  worth  trying, 
and  on  the  whole  justified  itself. 

The  American  child  starts  out  in  life  with  many 
advantages  over  the  European  child,  but  he  also 
starts  with  some  handicaps.  Almost  every  Euro- 
pean child  is  equipped  with  that  best  of  all  intro- 
ductions to  real  literature — the  folk-tale;  he  is 
very  likely  to  be  familiar  with  the  work  of  great 
painters  through  the  copies  of  their  pictures  in 
the  churches  or  the  public  halls;  from  the  vil- 
lage band  and  choirs  he  gets  some  sort  of  intro- 
duction to  the  work  of  the  great  composers;  in 
addition  he  has  his  own  folk-music  and  national 
music.  Instead  of  all  this  the  American  child  of 
the  small  town  has  the  "movie,"  the  victrola 
and  the  pictures  of  the  popular  magazines.  Is 
it  possible  to  compensate  for  this  lack  of  a  par- 
ticular background?  Mrs.  Johnson  believed  that 
a  great  deal  could  be  done  by  her  artist-teachers, 
and  in  the  spring  before  the  school  opened  for  its 
third  term  she  picked  out  men  whose  work  indi- 
cated a  distinctive  fitness  for  this  experiment. 

There  happened  to  be  settled  in  America  the 
distinguished  Swiss  composer,  Ernest  Bloch.  Mrs. 
Johnson  secured  him  for  her  school,  and  in  the 
summer  of  1919  he  gave  the  best  of  his  creative 
energy  to  instilling  into  the  children  of  Peter- 
borough an  understanding  and  a  love  of  music. 


viii  FOREWORD 

Anyone  who  reads  the  records  of  his  teaching 
here,  with  their  wit,  wisdom  and  enthusiasm,  can 
hardly  fail  to  be  convinced  that  he  kindled  a  spark 
in  the  souls  of  his  young  pupils  and  imbued  them 
with  a  desire  to  know  what  great  music  is.  He 
played  for  them  his  own  compositions  as  they 
came  fresh  from  his  brain — the  compositions  that 
in  the  following  winter  were  played  by  the  great 
orchestras  of  New  York,  Boston  and  Chicago.  For 
Literature  Mrs.  Johnson  got  Mr.  Padraic  Colum, 
the  Irish  poet  and  dramatist,  who  is  also  a  well- 
known  writer  of  children's  books,  and  for  Art  Mr. 
Howard  Coluzzi,  one  of  the  most  accomplished  of 
the  younger  American  sculptors. 

To  an  attentive  observer  there  was  something 
quite  astonishing  in  the  way  in  which  small  boys 
and  girls  were  weaned  from  a  delight  in  cheap 
popular  melodies,  through  Hungarian  folk-songs 
and  folk-dances,  to  an  appreciation  of  Beethoven. 
Of  course  there  would  always  remain  some  chil- 
dren who  preferred  "Over  There"  and  "My 
Pony,"  but  those  who  had  any  music  in  their  souls 
were  started  out  on  the  right  road.  In  the  Litera- 
ture classes,  some  of  the  reading  boys  showed 
euch  a  finished  acquaintance  with  the  cheaper 
form  of  short  story  in  the  magazines  that  they 
reproduced,  with  great  skill,  its  form  and  contents 
in  the  stories  they  wrote  for  their  teacher.  How- 
ever, in  a  contest  for  popularity  between  this  type 
of  story  and  the  English  teacher's  own  version  of 
Homer,  Homer  was  not  long  coming  into  his  own. 
The  Music  and  Literature  Records  give  some 
details  of  the  processes  of  these  conversions, 
though  it  is  well  to  say  that  both  the  Literature 


FOREWORD  ix 

and  Music  teachers  were  convinced  that  only  the 
minority  had  it  in  them  to  be  genuine  lovers  of 
Music  or  Literature.  The  popularity  of  Mr.  How- 
ard Coluzzi's  modelling  class  was  immediate,  for 
in  modelling  all  found  very  quickly  a  way  of 
expressing  themselves. 

From  the  beginning  there  was  a  very  frank  com- 
munication between  teachers  and  pupils;  on  the 
part  of  the  pupils  it  was  free  from  self -conscious- 
ness and  restraint — so  much  so  that  it  may  have 
been  disconcerting  at  times;  for  instance,  when 
the  Music  teacher  after  having  played  Beethoven 
to  one  Group  got  this  as  a  comment, — "That  fel- 
low composes  all  slow  tunes,"  or  when  the  Litera- 
ture teacher  was  informed  by  his  pupils  of  Group 
II  that  their  favorite  poetry  was  "funny"  poetry. 
Probably  the  sophisticated  reader  of  this  volume 
will  not  be  able  to  restrain  a  smile  when  he  reads 
the  obiter  dicta  of  Mr.  Bloch's  pupils  on  Mr. 
Bloch's  own  compositions. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  departments  of  the 
school  to  modern  Educationalists  will  be  the  Psy- 
chological Laboratory  in  which  Educational  and 
Psychological  tests  were  carried  out.  And  even 
to  readers  to  whom  this  most  modern  study  is  a 
closed  book,  Dr.  Mateer's  detailed  account  of  her 
work  at  the  school  will  be  of  the  greatest  interest. 
The  stenographic  record  of  her  examination  of  a 
typical  small  boy  of  the  school  is  indeed  a  revela- 
tion of  child  mentality.  The  sympathetic  yet  sci- 
entific examination  of  this  boy,  and  the  obvious 
and  eager  interest  of  the  child  himself  in  it  give 
us  something  that  has  the  authenticity  and  human 
interest  of  a  piece  of  Literature.  The  charming 


x  FOREWORD 

personality  of  the  child,  the  genuinely  American 
quality  of  his  mind,  and  the  type  of  information  he 
has  acquired  are  laid  bare  as  in  a  little  drama. 
Indeed  it  might  be  said  for  this  examination  of 
Dr.  Mateer's  that  it  gives  us  a  cross-section  of 
native  American  life. 

Although  the  Educational  Measurement  Sys- 
tem, of  which  Professor  Thorndyke  of  Columbia 
is  perhaps  the  most  distinguished  exponent,  has 
been  adopted  in  several  schools,  the  Psychological 
Testing  System  has  more  deeply-rooted  preju- 
dices to  struggle  against.  Without  claiming  for  it 
all  that  its  most  enthusiastic  exponents  claim,  it  is 
obvious  to  anyone  who  gives  the  methods  a  study 
that  in  the  hands  of  sympathetic  and  well- 
equipped  people  they  can  be  of  enormous  value. 
The  Bird  School  was  also  exceptionally  fortunate, 
in  the  summer  of  1920,  in  so  commending  itself  to 
Dr.  Walter  F.  Dearborn,  Professor  of  Education 
at  Harvard  University,  that  he  had  it  taken  under 
his  professional  observation  and  directed  tests 
there,  a  report  of  which  will  be  found  later  in  this 
volume.  Professor  Dearborn  has  arranged  to 
continue  this  work  in  Peterborough,  the  advantage 
of  which  to  the  school  will  be  inestimable.  At  the 
same  time,  it  is  perhaps  well  to  mention  here  the 
deep-seated  conviction  of  the  "creators"  who 
taught  at  Peterborough  School  that  the  peculiar 
combination  of  intellectual  and  emotional  gifts 
which  make  the  artist,  in  their  highest  degree 
of  genius,  cannot  be  tested  at  all. 

It  was  the  village  children,  with  the  addition  of 
some  half-dozen  summer  residents,  who  made  up 
the  classes.  The  school  session  took  place  dur- 


FOREWORD  xi 

ing  the  vacation  time  of  the  village  school;  the 
attendance,  naturally,  was  purely  voluntary.  It 
is  not  too  much  to  say  that  on  the  part  of  the 
pupils  a  real  attachment  to  the  school  was 
formed;  on  the  last  day  the  children  showed 
unmistakable  regret  that  it  all  was  over  for 
another  year.  The  New  England  parents  were 
surprisingly  awake  to  the  effort  of  the  school  and 
to  the  instruction  in  subjects  which,  to  many 
people,  might  have  seemed  unusual  and  imprac- 
ticable. It  must  have  been  to  the  advantage  of 
some  of  the  parents  to  have  kept  their  boys  and 
girls  at  home  during  the  busy  summer  season,  yet 
all  of  them  were  anxious  that  their  children  should 
not  miss  a  day. 

To  the  student  of  the  science  of  Education, 
undoubtedly  the  most  interesting  part  of  Mrs. 
Johnson's  plan  was  the  keeping  of  an  extraor- 
dinarily full  series  of  reports,  which  should  enable 
one  who  studied  them  to  realize  the  aim  and 
method  of  any  of  the  teachers  and  to  estimate 
their  results  in  the  recorded  reactions  of  their 
pupils.  Summaries  of  each  day's  work  were 
made  by  the  teachers ;  and  besides  this  practice  of 
a  few  schools,  Peterborough  was  among  the  first 
to  keep  detailed  Stenographic  Reports  of  the  vari- 
ous class-room  exercises.  The  Bird  School  now 
has  on  file  a  wealth  of  pedagogical  data  that  is 
practically  unique  and  of  inestimable  value  to  the 
student.  It  is  possible  to  print  only  a  selection 
from  them  in  this  volume;  but  in  each  case  the 
stenographic  account  of  the  day  is  given  verbatim, 
without  " editing"  or  polishing  of  any  kind.  The 
shorthand  writer  became  so  familiar  to  the  classes 


xii  FOREWORD 

that  they  hardly  noticed  him.  This,  and  the  occa- 
sional presence  of  visitors,  became  a  valuable  aid 
to  the  overcoming  of  self-consciousness  on  the 
part  of  the  pupils.  Although  the  actual  school 
records  of  the  different  teachers  are  all  in  the 
same  form,  the  manner  of  their  presentation  in 
this  book  varies.  It  has  been  considered  most 
practical  to  present  Mr.  Bloch's  work  in  the  form 
of  daily  reports,  as  in  Music  the  detailed  steps  are 
of  particular  interest.  In  Literature  Mr.  Colum 
was  convinced  that  his  work  could  best  be  pre- 
sented in  the  form  of  weekly  abstracts. 

At  the  moment  when  many  educational  systems 
are  being  weighed,  it  is  thought  that  a  useful  end 
will  be  served  by  the  publication  of  these  records 
of  an  experiment  which  has  aimed  at  uniting  the 
old  idea  of  the  Humanists  with  the  idea  of  modern 
pedagogics — the  Arts,  communicated  as  in  the  old 
world  by  teachers  who  themselves  were  makers, 
the  study  of  nature  and  the  processes  of  the  mind, 
with  the  newly  elaborated  method  of  child  study 
with  its  insistence  upon  freedom  of  self-expres- 
sion. 


CONTENTS 

PAOB 

FOREWORD v 

INTRODUCTION 

By  F.  M.  McMuRRY,  Professor  of  Elementary 
Education,  Teachers  College,  Columbia  Uni- 
versity   1 

LITERATURE 

I.  By  JOHN  MERRILL,  Director  of  Oral  Reading 
and  Expression  Department,  Francis  Parker 
School,  Chicago,  Illinois 11 

II.    By  PADRAIC  COLUM,  Poet  and  Dramatist     .     54 

MUSIC 

I.    By  ELSA  CAMPBELL,  Teacher  of  the  Theory 

of  Music 133 

II.  By  ERNEST  BLOCK,  Composer  and  Director 
of  The  Cleveland  Institute  of  Music,  Cleve- 
land, Ohio 145 

PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY 

I.    By  FLORENCE  MATEER,  Ph.D.,   Consulting 

Psychologist,  Columbus,  Ohio     ....  239 

II.  By  WALTER  F.  DEARBORN,  Ph.D.,  M.D., 
Professor  of  Education,  Harvard  University, 
EDWARD  A.  LINCOLN,  Harvard  University, 
and  EDWIN  A.  SHAW,  Harvard  University.  334 


Mil 


A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 


A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

INTRODUCTION 

DIFFICULTIES  IN  THE  WAY  OF  AN  IDEAL,  SCHOOL. — 
Occasionally  some  one  asserts  that  worse  blunders 
are  made  in  Education  than  in  any  other  field.  I 
suspect  that  the  statement  is  true,  for  unbeliev- 
able crudities  are  often  shown  in  teaching,  even 
by  persons  whose  intelligence  quotient  is  far  above 
normal. 

The  difficulty  is  that  education  is  a  remarkably 
complex  undertaking.  It  involves  much  knowl- 
edge of  the  aims  of  life,  of  the  subjects  of  study, 
and  of  child  nature,  and  then  the  ability  to  use 
such  knowledge  for  another's  development.  In 
that  use  both  the  teacher  and  the  subject-matter 
presented  must  be  kept  subordinated  to  the 
learner.  Relatively  few  persons  can  meet  all 
these  requirements  to  a  fair  degree.  Very  few, 
no  matter  how  much  they  know,  can  subordinate 
themselves  and  the  facts  in  which  they  are  inter- 
ested to  their  students  enough  to  make  good 
teachers. 

In  addition,  proper  education  is  very  expensive, 
calling  for  an  equipment  that  can  seldom  be  pro- 
vided to  a  satisfactory  degree.  Any  attempt  at  an 
ideal  school,  therefore,  requires  wide  knowledge, 
practical  ability,  money,  and  a  good  degree  of 


2  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

courage.  And  it  is  always  an  experiment,  for  the 
outcome  is  uncertain. 

CONDITIONS  FAVORING  SUCH  A  SCHOOL  AT  PETER- 
BOROUGH.— Several  conditions  have  greatly  fa- 
vored such  a  school  at  Peterborough.  It  is  located 
on  a  country  estate  of  600  acres,  in  a  charming 
building,  with  open  air  pavilions  and  class  rooms, 
a  laboratory,  a  workshop  for  carpentry,  and  a 
completely  equipped  playground. 

The  classes  have  been  kept  small,  so  that  there 
could  be  an  intimate  relation  between  teachers  and 
children,  as  well  as  between  teachers  and  parents. 
The  children  selected  were  of  superior  intelli- 
gence, as  shown  by  the  various  tests  taken  in  the 
school.  Since  the  school  was  private  and  con- 
ducted during  the  summer  months  only,  there  was 
no  constraint  to  follow  any  particular  curriculum, 
or  to  prepare  for  any  examinations.  There  was 
no  compulsion,  therefore,  even  to  provide  for  drill. 
And,  finally,  the  money  was  at  hand  for  securing 
especially  well  qualified  teachers.  Certainly  here 
was  a  remarkably  favorable  opportunity  for  real 
education. 

KIND  OF  TEACHERS  SELECTED. — What  kind  of 
teachers  would  we  want  for  such  a  school?  Since 
no  person  possessed  all  the  qualifications  neces- 
sary, some  rather  than  others  had  to  be  made  the 
principal  basis  of  selection.  It  was  concluded  that 
it  was  desirable  to  secure  as  far  as  possible  those 
persons  who  had  distinguished  themselves  as  pro- 
ducers. In  the  belief  that ' '  no  one  else  could  give 
the  children  the  same  interest  in  Music  as  a  com- 
poser, in  Literature  as  a  writer,  in  Art  as  a 
painter  or  sculptor,"  such  creative  workers  were 


INTRODUCTION  3 

sought.  Thus  a  small  group  of  practising  artists 
were  brought  together,  including  the  Swiss  com- 
poser, Ernest  Bloch ;  the  Irish  poet  and  dramatist, 
Padraic  Colum;  and  the  artist,  Howard  Coluzzi. 
The  spirit  of  these  men  tended  to  dominate  the 
school.  Yet  there  were  some  experienced  elemen- 
tary teachers  also  included  in  the  staff,  among 
whom  probably  the  best  known  was  Mr.  Merrill 
of  the  Francis  Parker  School  in  Chicago. 

These  artists  were,  however,  far  more  than  dis- 
tinguished specialists  in  their  chosen  lines.  They 
were  enough  interested  in  the  education  of  chil- 
dren to  devote  their  summer  to  teaching.  That 
suggests  that  they  had  a  rare  interest  in  Educa- 
tion. How  much  special  training  for  teaching  is 
desirable,  when  one  has  become  a  distinguished 
producer,  loves  children  and  is  greatly  interested 
in  their  instruction?  That  is  a  question  that  this 
experiment  should  help  to  answer. 

POSSIBLE  DEFECTS  OF  THIS  SCHOOL. — As  inti- 
mated above,  Education  is  so  complex  an  under- 
taking, that  any  school  is  bound  to  have  many 
defects.  A  school  may  well  be  counted  excellent  if 
half  of  its  teachers  show  a  good  degree  of  skill, 
and  if  the  number  of  its  real  merits  much  exceeds 
the  number  of  its  glaring  weaknesses.  Perfection 
is  not  attained  any  more  in  Education  than  in 
living. 

Possibly  the  defect  that  will  most  impress  the 
reader  of  this  volume  will  be  the  lack  of  a  common 
basis  of  theory  for  the  various  phases  of  the 
instruction.  The  degree  of  unity  was,  however, 
much  greater  than  might  be  expected,  when  one 
considers  how  untrained,  in  the  technical  sense, 


4  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

most  of  the  teachers  were,  and  from  what  varied 
fields  of  experience  they  were  selected. 

In  connection  with  the  stenographic  description 
of  class  procedure,  the  frequent  statement  of  the 
teacher 's  aim  with  no  statement  of  the  aims  of  the 
children  may  seem  strange  to  many  progressive 
teachers;  for  modern  educational  theory  tends  to 
regard  the  children's  aims  as  the  matter  of  first 
importance.  Again,  while  trained  teachers  gen- 
erally grant  the  great  superiority  of  the  psycho- 
logical unfolding  of  a  subject  over  the  logical,  for 
educational  purposes,  that  superiority  seems  to 
have  been  overlooked  in  large  sections  of  this  in- 
struction. 

Finally,  the  method  of  questioning  in  most  of 
this  instruction  may  raise  many  doubts.  The  very 
general  use  of  questions  in  place  of  lecturing, 
must  meet  with  general  approval;  but  the  art  of 
questioning  may  seem  to  have  been  greatly 
neglected.  For  example,  the  distinction  between 
broad  and  narrow  questions,  between  vital  and 
superficial  questions,  and  between  carefully  or- 
ganized and  quite  unorganized  questions  might 
have  received  more  consideration. 

PROMINENT  MERITS  IN  THE  TEACHING. — While 
such  criticisms  may  be  passed,  others  just  as 
severe  could  probably  be  found  in  any  school  in 
the  land.  Our  main  interest  is  in  the  merits  of  the 
school,  and  they  are  both  numerous  and  striking. 

In  spite  of  the  lack  of  unity  in  theory,  the  idea 
that  education  is  growth  stands  out  prominently; 
likewise,  the  idea  that  action  on  the  part  of  the 
children,  particularly  creative  action,  is  the  lead- 
ing means  for  bringing  about  growth.  Conse- 


INTRODUCTION  5 

quently,  there  is  very  little  ordinary  " reciting" 
and  not  much  mere  collecting  of  information.  In 
general,  the  children's  attitude  ranks  far  above 
fact  collecting,  and  the  class  period  is  primarily 
a  period  for  stimulating  thought.  At  the  same 
time  there  is  certainly  no  ground  for  claiming  that 
knowledge  is  slighted. 

The  relation  between  teachers  and  children  is 
very  democratic,  so  that  the  latter  are  constantly 
raising  questions  and  making  remarks.  More 
natural  conditions  in  a  school  could  hardly  be 
imagined. 

VALUE  OF  THIS  EXPERIMENT  TO  TEACHERS  AND 
PARENTS. — The  history  of  Education  and  most 
books  on  teaching  deal  with  theory ;  they  tell  what 
ought  to  be  done  in  the  educational  process.  This 
book  describes  what  certain  persons  did  do,  in 
order  to  educate.  Enough  theory  is  presented  to 
show  their  controlling  motives  and  principles ;  but 
the  emphasis  is  on  practice.  The  volume  is  a 
clear  cross-section  of  a  "going  educational  con- 
cern" and  is  thus  an  unusually  concrete  work  on 
Education.  Valuable  results  are  likely  to  follow 
its  study.  For  example,  one  can  hardly  read  the 
description  of  Mr.  Merrill's  instruction  without 
realizing  how  skill  can  be  displayed  in  leading  chil- 
dren to  visualize,  and  without  reaching  new  con- 
victions about  the  importance  of  visualization  in 
Education. 

Some  new  ideas  about  the  value  of  extensive 
knowledge  are  likely  to  be  reached  in  following 
Mr.  Bloch's  teaching  of  Music.  In  spite  of  the 
fact  that  he  makes  bald  notation  his  chief  subject- 
matter,  and  unfolds  it  in  a  strictly  logical  rather 


6  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

than  psychological  manner,  his  fullness  of  knowl- 
edge allows  him  to  give  reasons  for  nearly  all  his 
statements  of  fact,  and  to  draw  freely  on  classic 
music  for  illustrations.  These  advantages,  to- 
gether with  his  great  enthusiasm,  due  to  satura- 
tion with  the  subject,  lead  to  surprising  effects. 

A  new  notion  about  the  capacities  of  children  is 
likely  to  be  obtained  by  noting  what  advanced  pur- 
poses Mr.  Colum  dares  to  set  up  in  Literature  for 
children,  and  how  fully  he  accomplishes  them.  Not 
many  persons  would  welcome  the  opportunity  of 
teaching  twelve  to  fourteen  year  old  boys  the 
various  forms  of  poetry ;  i.  e.,  the  narrative,  lyric 
and  dramatic  forms,  as  well  as  the  ode  and  son- 
net. Yet  the  boys  certainly  obtained  a  fair  com- 
prehension of  the  distinctions  made,  and  showed 
a  good  appreciation  of  the  Literature. 

The  psychological  department  of  the  school 
gives  an  excellent  insight  into  a  very  new  but 
prominent  phase  of  present  Education.  The  actual 
instruction  attempted  in  the  department,  toward 
training  for  mental  control,  seems  to  have  very 
little  psychological  basis ;  it  is  wooden.  But  that  is 
a  minor  matter.  The  character  of  prevalent  tests 
of  intelligence  is  made  very  plain,  and  the  uses 
to  which  the  results  are  put  suggest  great  possi- 
bilities for  the  future. 

These  are  only  a  few  of  the  points  of  special 
interest.  On  the  whole,  the  curriculum  followed  is 
probably  more  suggestive  than  the  method,  al- 
though the  prominence  of  creative  work  by  the 
children  makes  the  method  highly  interesting. 
Teachers  and  parents  will  profit  at  least  as  much 
by  studying  this  record  as  by  studying  standard 


INTRODUCTION  7 

works  on  education.  Indeed,  this  record,  owing  to 
its  concreteness,  will  prove  especially  helpful  to 
many  persons,  being  an  excellent  supplement  to 
well-known  books. 

THE  VALUE  OF  SUCH  AN  EXPERIMENT  TO  THE 
CAUSE  OF  EDUCATION. — In  recent  years  not  less 
than  a  dozen  experimental  schools  have  become 
prominent.  This  one  may  well  be  ranked  among 
them.  And  the  fact  that  it  has  attempted  to  select 
its  teachers  so  extensively  from  among  well-known 
artists,  who  are  creators  in  their  respective  fields, 
gives  it  a  distinguishing  purpose.  It  is  to  be 
hoped  that  this  purpose  will  be  maintained  in  the 
future;  for  the  need  of  technical  training  for 
teaching  is  now  so  generally  relied  upon  for 
excellence,  that  the  peculiar  merits  in  the  teacher 
due  to  saturation  with  a  subject,  even  to  the  point 
of  creative  ability  in  it,  are  very  often  overlooked. 
After  all,  the  personal  enthusiasm  of  a  teacher, 
due  to  such  familiarity  with  a  particular  field  of 
knowledge,  is  the  greatest  influence  in  the  educa- 
tive process. 

These  experimental  schools  are  doing  an  ex- 
tremely valuable  work.  With  the  special  advan- 
tages that  they  enjoy  they  can  test  out  promising 
theory  in  a  way  the  ordinary  school  cannot,  and 
suggest  to  the  latter  improved  ways  of  determin- 
ing aims,  curricula  and  methods  of  Education. 

F.  M.  McMuEBY. 

Teachers  College, 
June  23,  1921. 


LITERATURE 


LITERATURE 

I 

BY  JOHN  MERRILL 

THE  hope,  during  these  ten  weeks'  session  of 
the  school,  has  been  to  give  the  children  a  joyous 
and  inspiring  acquaintance  with  some  of  the  best 
literature — that  literature  which  Dr.  Long  defines 
as  "the  written  record  of  man's  best  thought  and 
feeling."  An  effort  has  been  made  to  deal  with 
both  prose  and  poetry  within  the  children's 
power  of  understanding  and  appreciation,  which 
met  present  needs,  as  nothing  is  really  one's 
own  that  does  not  touch  one  so  deeply  that  it  finds 
individual  re-expression,  thus  becoming  in  a 
measure  a  part  of  experience.  The  natural  inter- 
ests of  the  children  have  formed  the  basis  for  all 
the  work.  Each  class  period  has  been  used  to 
carry  them  a  little  further  and  deeper  in  the  work- 
ing out  of  personal  or  social  problems  which  at 
that  time  had  their  attention. 

"  Behold  the  child  among  his  new-born  blisses 

See  at  his  feet,  some  little  plan  or  chart, 
Some  fragment  from  his  dream  of  human  life, 
Shaped  by  himself  with  newly-learned  art ; 
A  wedding  or  a  funeral; 
A  mourning  or  a  festival, 
And  this  hath  now  his  heart 
11 


12  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

And  unto  this  he  frames  his  song: 

Then  will  he  fit  his  tongue 
To  dialogues  of  business,  love,  or  strife ; 
But  it  will  not  be  long 
Ere  this  be  thrown  aside; 
And  with  new  joy  and  pride 
The  little  actor  cons  another  part ; 
Filling  from  time  to  time  his  'humorous  stage' 
With  all  the  persons  down  to  palsied  age, 
That  life  brings  with  her  in  her  equipage." 

They  were  not  told  what  they  should  like,  no  blind 
reverence  for  classics  was  instilled  into  them,  and 
they  were  allowed  to  criticise  and  express  their 
likes  and  dislikes  as  freely  as  they  desired.  Skill 
was  sought  not  as  an  end  in  itself,  but  rather  as 
the  accompaniment  of  the  working  out  of  real 
projects  or  interests, — as  a  by-product  of  the  sub- 
ject. Through  the  utilization  of  the  natural  inter- 
ests of  children,  such  technical  requirements  as 
the  mastery  of  reading,  writing,  and  spelling  can 
be  readily  attained. 

Group  I 

AIM  :  1.  To  continue  the  study  of  the  rhyme, 
"There  was  a  man  in  our  town." 

2.  To  familiarize  the  children  with  the  written 
word  "man."  (I  chose  this  word  because  it  ex- 
pressed the  central  interest  of  the  story.) 

METHOD  :  Sophie  had  been  absent  and  had  not 
heard  the  rhyme,  so  the  children  wished  to  let  her 
know  what  our  story  had  been  about.  I  therefore 
wrote  on  the  board  the  name  of  the  principal  char- 
acter in  the  rhyme  as  an  introduction  to  the  story. 

I  tried  to  fix  the  word  "man"  by  playing  their 
favorite  automobile  game.  In  this  game  each 


LITERATURE  13 

child  travels  in  his  motor  car  (a  piece  of  colored 
chalk)  the  white  road  on  the  board  (the  white 
road  is  in  reality  the  word  "man"  written  with 
white  chalk  in  large  handwriting).  In  order  to  fix 
the  form  of  the  word  "man"  in  their  thought,  I 
described  the  road  that  led  from  my  house  to  the 
place  where  we  were  going  and  illustrated  on  the 
board  as  I  described.  I  told  how  the  road  went 
up  and  down,  three  high  hills  (m) ;  then  up  a  hill 
to  a  great  rock  (ma),  where  we  had  to  come  down 
and  then  go  up  to  the  other  side  of  the  rock  (ma) ; 
then  down  and  up  again  (ma) ;  then  over  the  top  of 
this  hill,  down  and  up  over  another  hill,  down 
again  and  up  to  the  house  where  we  were  going 
(man).  I  then  said  that  I  wished  them  all  to  make 
the  road  in  the  air  while  I  made  it  on  the  board. 
Next  I  had  various  members  of  the  class  take  me  in 
their  touring  car  (a  piece  of  colored  chalk)  from 
my  house  to  the  home  of  my  friend  on  the  hillside. 
We  played  that  we  had  many  kinds  of  cars  (vari- 
ous pieces  of  colored  chalk)  and  in  this  way  got 
intensive  practice  in  tracing  the  word. 

We  played  a  game  to  review  other  words  that 
it  was  night,  and  that  the  road  could  not  be  seen. 
The  children  were  eager  to  travel  the  road  in  the 
dark.  In  this  delightful  way,  each  child  gained 
skill  in  writing  the  word  "man." 

We  played  a  game  to  review  other  words  that 
we  had  had.  I  would  say,  "I'm  thinking  of  a  story 
that  we  have  had ;  I  'm  going  to  say  it  on  the  board ; 
who  can  tell  me  what  the  story  is?"  When  the 
word  "ox"  or  "fox"  was  written,  all  recognized 
it.  I  erased  one  of  the  words  "man,"  "ox,"  or 
"fox,"  and  asked  which  story  I  had  taken  away. 


14  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

I  next  told  the  story  of  "  There  was  a  man  in 
our  town."  I  told  the  story  of  this  wise  man  that 
jumped  into  the  bramble  bush  in  my  own  words, 
then  in  its  true  form  of  rhyme.  The  children  liked 
to  say  it  with  me.  I  let  them  say  it  and  walk  it 
or  swing  it  with  their  bodies,  as  they  felt  inclined. 
We  then  played  the  story.  When  they  had  sat  for 
as  long  a  time  as  I  thought  wise,  I  varied  the 
activities  by  having  them  pretend  that  they  were 
wise  men  on  a  stroll  through  the  village.  As  they 
walked  about,  playing  that  they  were  wise  men,  I 
strove  to  increase  the  truthfulness  of  their  imper- 
sonations by  making  them  realize  more  fully  what 
it  meant  to  be  wise.  I  said,  for  example,  that  they 
were  as  wise  as  father,  or  mother, — wiser  than  any 
of  their  teachers  and  all  of  their  friends.  The 
children  impersonated  more  and  more  fully  their 
growing  conception  of  a  wise  man.  As  their 
imaginations  were  made  more  and  more  active  by 
means  of  the  suggestions,  their  impersonations 
improved  in  detail.  Next  we  pretended  that  we 
were  purchasing  bramble  bushes — blackberry 
bushes,  some  one  suggested.  We  had  the  gardener 
place  the  bushes  in  our  garden,  the  children  play- 
ing the  part  of  the  gardener  and  bushes. 

Having  increased  our  understanding  and  appre- 
ciation of  the  details  of  the  story,  we  played  it 
again.  Then  the  children  began  to  discuss  how  it 
would  feel  to  be  a  blind  man,  and  what  they  would 
do  if  they  were  blind.  Then  all  played  that  they 
were  blind  men.  Again  the  whole  story  was  acted. 

COMMENT:  I  began  the  period  with  work  in 
writing,  because  I  found  that  the  children  had  had 


LITERATURE  15 

in  their  other  classes  a  long  stretch  of  close  atten- 
tion, and  now  needed  motor  expression. 

Occasional  use  of  the  written  word  interests  the 
children,  because  the  word  says  the  story  briefly 
and  is  an  added  way  of  telling  it.  The  practice  is 
justifiable  because  it  satisfies  their  desire  to  tell 
the  story  in  as  many  ways  as  possible, — through 
oral  expression,  through  acting,  through  draw- 
ing and  modelling,  and  through  writing.  The 
written  expression  is  the  most  difficult,  and  the 
child  feels  the  need  of  it  last,  and  therefore  it  is 
last  mastered.  I  try  to  present  the  written  words 
at  a  time  when  the  child's  interest  in  the  story  is 
most  intense.  Some  such  method  of  word-study 
serves  as  a  natural  and  helpful  preparation  for 
the  work  which  must  come  later  in  getting  thought 
from  the  printed  page.  I  believe  that  this  is  the 
correct  way  to  begin  the  teaching  of  reading,  and 
not  with  a  book,  forcing  children  to  read  sentence 
units  that  are  beyond  their  power  to  hold  as  a 
whole,  and  which  they  read  in  a  broken  fashion, 
calling  words  merely.  Habits,  once  established, 
are  most  difficult  to  eradicate.  The  general  prac- 
tice of  teaching  children  to  read  is  responsible  for 
many  of  the  bad  oral  reading  habits  which  gen- 
erally prevail.  Moreover,  many  of  the  primers 
and  first  readers  have  little  or  no  content  value. 
Frequently,  they  take  stories  which  have  a  literary 
form  and  put  them  in  words  of  one  or  two  syl- 
lables, thus  spoiling  beautiful  literary  gems  which 
the  children  could  later  read  with  great  enjoyment 
and  profit  in  their  true  form. 


16  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

Group  I 

AIM:  To  continue  the  study  of  "Hickory, 
Dickory,  Dock,*'  through  keener  understanding 
and  fuller  expression. 

METHOD:  1.  Retelling  of  the  story.  (The  re- 
turn of  Sophie  gave  added  motive  for  telling  the 
story,  and  led  to  a  fresh  interest.)  I  told  the 
major  part  of  the  story,  and  those  who  had  heard 
the  story  on  the  previous  day  acted  as  efficient 
chorus.  2.  Said  the  story  in  rhyme.  3.  Children 
said  it.  Those  who  did  not  know  it  said  it  in 
chorus.  Some  of  their  own  accord  swung  to  the 
rhythm  as  they  recited.  4.  We  then  played  the 
entire  story  much  the  same  as  on  the  previous  day. 
The  centre  of  interest  seemed  to  be  on  the  mouse 
rather  than  on  the  clock.  I  used  this  interest  to 
draw  out  the  children 's  knowledge  of  mice, — their 
habits,  ways  of  getting  food,  their  enemies,  means 
of  protection;  I  strove  to  correlate  and  fix  these 
facts  by  the  making  up  of  simple  situations  which 
would  call  for  the  expression  of  these  habits  that 
they  had  observed.  We  had,  for  example,  mice 
seeking  cheese  at  night,  and  being  pursued  by  vigi- 
lant old  cats.  5,  Our  fifth  step  was  the  playing 
of  these  simple  situations  which  helped  to  develop 
our  understanding  of  the  characters  in  our  story. 
6.  We  completed  the  physiological  circuit  of 
impression  and  expression  and  brought  our  recita- 
tion to  a  unified  close  by  playing  the  whole  story. 

RESPONSE;  The  making  up  of  original  related 
incidents  helped  to  develop  impersonations  by 
adding  details.  At  first  the  children  playing  mice 
merely  ran  out  of  their  holes  and  ran  back,  but 


LITERATURE  17 

after  thoughtful  consideration  and  the  pooling  of 
the  children's  knowledge  of  mice  the  impersona- 
tions began  to  develop.  They  sought  better  homes, 
— one  got  under  the  table,  another  in  the  waste- 
paper  basket;  they  cautiously  poked  their  heads 
out,  peered  about  for  signs  of  danger,  sniffed  for 
the  odor  of  cheese,  listened  carefully  for  indica- 
tions of  the  proximity  of  their  enemy,  the  cat ;  then 
came  the  quick  run  for  the  cheese,  the  frightened 
pell-mell  rush  for  their  holes  when  the  cat  ap- 
peared, the  pantings  of  fear  when  they  realized 
how  narrow  their  escape  had  been. 

Alvin  showed  indications,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  exercise,  of  creative  imagination  and  initiative. 
He  completed  the  story  of  the  rhyme  by  taking  his 
family  and  moving  to  a  new  house  where  there 
were  no  cats  or  tall  clocks. 

One  of  the  children  knew  the  rhyme,  and  when 
invited  to  say  it  for  us  rattled  off  mere  words. 
We  all  then  said  the  rhyme,  trying  to  make  every 
one  see  every  picture.  With  our  hands  we  fol- 
lowed the  movement  of  the  mouse  from  his  hole  to 
the  clock  and  back  again,  "suiting  the  word  to 
the  action  and  the  action  to  the  word,"  thus  get- 
ting the  right  tempo.  The  child  then  said  the 
rhyme  again  for  us,  adding  the  pictures  to  the 
rhythm  which  he  had  given  us  at  his  first  reciting 
of  the  verses. 

COMMENT:  I  am  confident  that  teachers  who 
use  this  most  vital  instinct  of  dramatic  expression 
should  have  a  knowledge  of  its  psychology  and  of 
its  phases  of  manifestation  and  their  order  and 
significance.  The  real  value  of  playing  stories  is 
lost  frequently  because  of  this  lack  of  knowledge 


18  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

on  the  teacher's  part  and  because  the  manifesta- 
tions of  the  dramatic  feeling  are  not  developed 
and  directed  into  definite  channels  that  shall  aid 
the  child  in  the  education  of  his  whole  mind  and 
body.  The  teacher  should  lead  the  pupil  to  the 
fullest  expression  that  he  is  capable  of  at  the  mo- 
ment; emotions,  intellect,  and  will  combining  and 
balancing  in  the  service  of  a  definite,  interesting, 
worthy  purpose. 

Stenographic  Record  of  Group  I 

NOTE. — These  children  had  never  had  kindergarten 
training.  Three  of  them  had  never  associated  much  with 
other  children,  consequently  there  was  a  shyness  that  had 
to  be  overcome.  The  teacher's  primary  aim  was  to  free 
them  from  their  timidity.  The  method  of  attack  was 
determined  by  the  problems  that  this  particular  group 
presented  at  the  time. 

T.  Now  let  me  see  which  person  looks  as  if  he 
were  ready  for  a  story.  Let  us  listen  to  the  story 
and  see  if  you  can  tell  me  what  it  is  about. 
Listen : — 

"There  was  a  crooked  man 

Who  went  a  crooked  mile, 
He  found  a  crooked  sixpence 

Against  a  crooked  stile, 
He  bought  a  crooked  cat 

Which  caught  a  crooked  mouse, 
And  they  all  lived  together 

In  a  little  crooked  house." 

CHILDREN.     I  knew  that ;  yes,  yes. 

T.  Let's  see  what  that  story  was  about.  What 
was  it,  Sophie? 

SOPHIE.    A  crooked  man. 

T.  Can  anybody  else  tell  me  anything  else, — 
Phoebe! 


LITERATURE  19 

PHOEBE.    A  crooked  cat. 

T.  That's  strange,  isn't  it!  Did  you  ever  see 
a  crooked  cat  ! 

DORIS.  Didn't  you  ever  see  a  little  dog  whose 
tail  is  crooked! 

SOPHIE.     Oh,  no. 

T.    Haven't  you! 

PHOEBE.    Yes. 

T.  What  else  was  there?  (The  children  hesi- 
tate.) You  tell  me  the  story.  (Again  a  hesita- 
tion.) 

ALVIN.    Crooked  cat. 

T.    What  else! 

DORIS.     Crooked  dog. 

T.  Let's  see,  was  there!  (Repeats  verse.)  Did 
you  hear  anything  about  a  crooked  dog!  Did  you, 
Phoebe! 

PHOEBE.    No. 

T.  We  know  there  was  a  crooked  man  and  a 
crooked  cat.  What  else! 

PHOEBE.     Crooked  mouse. 

T.    Three  things. 

SOPHIE.    And  a  crooked — 

T.    Anything  else !    Now  think. 

PHOEBE.     Crooked  sixpence. 

T.  That  is  not  thinking,  that  is  saying.  I  said 
"think."  (All  think.)  There  is  a  crooked  man  and 
there  is  a  crooked  cat  and  there  is  a  crooked  six- 
pence and  there  is  a  crooked  house.  Who  will 
name  all  the  crooked  things  you  know  about  in  the 
story!  Sophie  may. 

SOPHIE.  Crooked  things  in  that  story!  A 
crooked  dog — 


20  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

T.  Listen  again.  (Repeats.)  Did  you  hear  of 
any  dog? 

SOPHIE.    Yes. 

T.  Listen  again.  (Repeats.)  "  There  was  a 
crooked  man."  Have  I  mentioned  a  dog  yet? 

SOPHIE.    No. 

T.  ' 1  Who  went  a  crooked  mile. ' '  Did  you  hear 
of  any  dog? 

SOPHIE.  No.  (Seeing  by  their  faces  that  they 
were  convinced  that  there  was  no  dog,  the  teacher 
did  not  finish  quoting  the  poem.) 

T.  AJi, — Doris,  name  all  the  crooked  things  you 
heard  about  in  that  story.  Can  you  name  one, 
Doris? 

DOBIS.  No.  (Doris  was  overcome  with  timid- 
ity.) 

T.  You  couldn't  tell  the  baby  one  crooked 
thing  there  was  in  that  story.  (Doris  had  a  new 
sister.) 

DORIS.    Yes.     (Hesitation.) 

T.  Oh,  she  could,  but  she  isn't  going  to  tell  us. 
Alvin,  can  you? 

ALVIN.    Yes. 

T.    What? 

AXVIN.    Crooked  man. 

T.  That  is  one;  what  else?  name  another.  We 
will  put  a  finger  down  for  every  one. 

ALVIN.    Crooked  cat. 

T.    Two. 

ALVIN.    Crooked  mouse. 

T.    Three. 

ALVIN.    Crooked  house. 

T.    Four. 

ALVIN.    Crooked  road. 


LITERATURE  21 

T.  Five.  He  has  five.  You  name  them, 
Phoebe. 

PHOEBE.  Crooked  mouse,  crooked  cat,  crooked 
road,  crooked  mouse — I  will  begin  again.  Crooked 
man,  crooked  house,  crooked  sixpence,  crooked 
mouse. 

T.  Well,  we  have  at  least  five,  haven't  we, 
Sophie! 

SOPHIE.    Yes. 

T.  Let's  think  a  minute.  What  did  that  man 
buy,  Doris? 

DORIS.    Crooked  cat. 

T.    Why  do  you  suppose  he  needed  a  cat? 

PHOEBE.     To  walk  with  him. 

T.    To  walk  with  him? 

PHOEBE.  To  live  with  him  because  he  was  so 
lonesome. 

T.    Why  do  you  think,  Sophie,  he  wanted  a  cat? 

SOPHIE.    Because  he  was  so  lonesome. 

PHOEBE.  He  didn't  have  anybody  to  take  care 
of  him. 

T.  Why  do  you  suppose,  Doris,  he  wanted  a 
cat? 

DORIS.  He  wanted  to  have  something  to  live 
with  him. 

SOPHIE.    Because  he  was  so  lonesome. 

T.  You  listen  and  we  will  say  it  again,  and  see 
if  you  can  tell.  (Repeats.) 

PHOEBE.    He  wanted  a  cat  to  catch  mice. 

T.  Exactly.  He  probably  had  in  his  house  a 
little  wee  hole,  and  in  that  little  wee  hole,  what 
lived,  Sophie? 

SOPHIE.    A  mouse. 


22  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

T.  Yes,  and  what  kind  of  a  mouse  do  you 
think?  (No  reply.)  Was  he  a  funny  mouse! 

SOPHIE.    Crooked. 

T.  That's  it.  The  crooked  man  wanted  to  buy 
a  cat,  but  where  did  he  get  the  money?  (No  reply.) 
He  was  a  very  poor  man  and  had  almost  no  money, 
and  lived  all  by  himself  in  his  little  house  that  was 
all  tumbled  down.  Where  do  you  suppose  he  got 
the  money? 

ALVIN.     On  a  crooked  stile. 

T.    Oh,— did  he  earn  it? 

ALVIN.    No. 

T.    How  did  he  get  it? 

ALVIN.    He  found  it. 

T.  What  makes  you  think  he  was  a  poor  man? 
(Hesitation.)  I  said  he  was  poor;  am  I  right? 

ALVIN.     He  lived  in  a  crooked  house. 

T.    What  else  makes  you  think  he  was  poor? 

PHOEBE.     Because  he  didn't  have  any  money. 

ALVIN.  Because  he  didn't  have  anybody  with 
him. 

T.  Didn't  have  anybody  living  with  him.  Sup- 
pose we  have  a  crooked  man  going  a  crooked  mile. 
I  am  going  to  pick  out  somebody  (looking  about) 
— I  want  to  see  somebody  who  is  a  little  crooked 
man  and  who  is  going  a  crooked  mile.  Will  you, 
Sophie,  be  a  crooked  man  and  go  a  crooked  mile? 

SOPHIE.  Yes.  (Bends  over  in  imitation  of 
crooked  man  walking  a  crooked  mile.) 

T.  Look,  how  that  road  goes  in  and  out  (she 
goes  along  in  a  circuitous  pathway) ;  what  a  long 
time  it  will  take  to  get  anywhere.  Thank  you, 
Sophie.  That  was  a  fine  crooked  man  and  a  fine 
crooked  mile.  Now,  what  do  you  think  a  stile  is  ? 


LITERATURE  23 

PHOEBE.  A  stile  is  a  pretty  thing,  bright 
flowers  or  pretty  butterflies  or  pretty  carriages  or 
horses. 

T.  We  do  say  that  things  have  style,  but  this 
isn't  that  kind.  This  is  another  kind  of  stile.  Have 
you  ever  been  out  walking  and  come  to  a  stone 
'wallT 

SOPHIE.    No. 

T.    Out  in  the  field? 

PHOEBE.    Yes,  I  have. 

T.  And  they  put  those  stone  walls  up  to  keep 
the  cows  out  and  perhaps  they  want  people  to  get 
over.  Do  you  know  what  they  put  in  so  people 
can  get  over? 

CHILDREN.    Yes,  a  gate. 

T.  And  that  is  what  a  stile  is.  Sometimes  they 
put  sticks  that  make  a  cross;  people  can  walk  in 
around  the  sticks  but  the  cows  can't.  (Teacher 
illustrates.) 

PHOEBE.  In  Boston  we  have  got  a  thing  that  we 
push  against  and  then  we  can  walk  through. 

T.    And  a  cow  couldn't  get  through? 

PHOEBE.    No. 

T.  Well,  that  is  what  a  stile  is.  What  was  it, 
Doris,  this  man  found  against  that  crooked  stile? 
What  did  he  find,  Doris?  (No  reply.)  Did  you 
know  what  it  was  when  you  heard  it  in  the  story? 
What  was  it,  Alvin?  What  did  he  find?  You  listen 
once  more.  Would  you  like  to  say  it  with  me, 
Phoebe?  (Repeat  together.) 

T.  Do  you  know,  Doris,  what  we  are  trying  to 
find  out?  " 

DORIS.    I  know,  but  I  can 't  guess  it. 

T.    We  are  trying  to  find  out  what  there  was 


24  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

against  the  crooked  stile  that  the  man  found. 
Listen.  (Repeats.) 

ALVIN.    Sixpence. 

T.    What  do  you  suppose  a  sixpence  is  ? 

ALVIN.    It  is  money. 

T.    Do  we  have  sixpence? 

CHILDREN.    No. 

T.  No;  they  have  it  in  England.  It  is  about 
twelve  cents. 

ALVIN.    I  have  some  money. 

T.    You  have? 

ALVIN.    I  have  twenty-one  cents. 

T.  Well,  you  can  probably  buy  more  than  a 
crooked  cat;  you  could  buy  a  straight  cat.  Now, 
I  am  going  to  be  the  storekeeper  and  I  am  going 
to  have  some  crooked  cats  for  sale.  Think  a  min- 
ute. Who  will  be  one  of  my  little  crooked  pussy 
»cats?  (All  assume  the  attitude  of  crooked  cats.) 

SOPHIE.    Yes ! 

PHOEBE.    Yes  1 

T.  And  Alvin,  you  be  the  crooked  man  that 
comes  to  the  store,  just  as  Sophie  did. 

PHOEBE.  I  will.  (Sophie,  Phoebe,  and  Alvin 
begin  to  act  their  parts.) 

T.  All  right.  Now  I  have  only  one  pussy  cat 
(teacher  playing  storekeeper) ;  come,  kitty,  kitty, 
kitty.  Oh,  my  poor  pussy  is  crooked;  oh,  what  a 
shame!  Would  you  like  a  saucer  of  milk?  Why, 
there  is  a  crooked  man  coming  to  my  store ;  he  is 
coming  down  that  crooked  mile,  that  crooked 
street.  Why,  how  do  you  do,  crooked  man;  what 
can  I  do  for  you  today  ? 

PHOEBE.    I  want  a  crooked  cat. 

T.    Well,    I   have    one    crooked   pussy   here. 


LITERATURE  25 

(Sophie  purrs.)  How  do  you  like  that  pussy?  Do 
you  know  how  much  that  pussy  is?  I  don't  know 
as  you  have  money  enough  to  pay  for  it. 

PHOEBE.     I  guess  I  have. 

T.    How  much  have  you  ? 

PHOEBE.    I  have  twelve  cents. 

T.  Well,  I  will  be  very  glad  to  let  you  have  the 
cat.  Why  do  you  want  a  pussy? 

PHOEBE.  Because  I  want  him  to  catch  some 
mice. 

T.    By  the  way,  what  sort  of  a  house  have  you? 

PHOEBE.    I  have  a  crooked  house. 

T.  Well,  isn't  that  funny!  You  will  have  a 
crooked  cat  to  put  in  a  crooked  house, — shall  I 
put  a  string  around  his  neck? 

PHOEBE.    Yes. 

T.  All  right.  (Puts  imaginary  string  around 
the  cat's  neck.)  Good-by.  Oh,  here  is  the  money. 
Thank  you  very  much  (taking  the  money).  Good- 
by,  pussy;  you  are  going  with  this  man.  (Phoebe 
and  Sophie  in  very  crooked  attitudes  travel  the 
crooked  road.)  There,  there  they  go  upon  that 
crooked  mile.  Look  at  the  poor  pussy  and  the 
poor  crooked  man;  did  you  ever  see  so  many 
crooked  things  in  the  world  before?  Look  at  the 
crooked  house, — isn't  it  funny?  The  roof  is  all 
twisted — and  look  at  the  windows  and  door, — what 
is  the  matter? 

DORIS.    It's  crooked. 

T.    Why,  what  is  the  matter  with  the  chimney? 

DORIS.    That's  crooked. 

T.    What  is  the  matter  with  the  window? 

DORIS.    All  crooked. 

T.    Now,  let's  all  come  back.  (The  play  ceases.) 


26  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

Group  II 

AIM:  To  further  the  acquaintance  of  the  chil- 
dren with  stories  that  have  content  suitable  for 
their  contemplation  and  which  will  stand  the  tests 
of  literary  craftsmanship.  For  the  present  pur- 
pose I  planned  to  repeat  Kipling's  Just-So  Story 
called  "How  the  Rhinoceros  Got  His  Skin." 

METHOD:  I  told  the  class  what  we  were  going 
to  have  the  story  about — (and  then  I  placed  the 
title  on  the  board).  I  asked  them  if  they  remem- 
bered how  the  rhinoceros  had  secured  his  wrinkled 
skin.  This  question  was  promptly  answered  and 
led  to  other  questions  and  answers  from  the  class ; 
there  was  discussion  on  their  part  about  the 
Parsee  man,  what  he  was  like,  where  he  lived,  how 
he  lived,  and  related  topics.  There  were  some 
points  on  which  they  were  hazy,  so  they  asked 
for  a  re-reading  of  the  story.  I  re-read  it  with  as 
much  dramatic  feeling  as  possible.  The  sugges- 
tion that  we  play  the  story  followed.  There  was 
time  to  play  only  a  portion  of  the  story,  so  I  let 
them  choose  the  part  they  liked  best.  The  choice 
proved  to  be  the  finding  of  the  rhinoceros's  skin 
by  the  Parsee  man.  The  rhinoceros,  burdened  by 
the  heat,  undid  the  three  buttons  of  his  skin,  then, 
divesting  himself  of  his  skin,  he  plunged  into  the 
Eed  Sea  and  diverted  himself  by  blowing  bubbles 
through  his  nose.  The  Parsee  man  discovered 
the  skin,  thought  of  his  revengeful  plan,  smiled 
a  smile  that  went  twice  around  his  face,  danced 
three  times  about  the  skin,  and  rubbed  his  hands 
in  glee. 

COMMENT  :     The  writing  of  the  title  of  the  story 


LITERATURE  27 

on  the  board  was  part  of  the  method  that  I  believe 
should  be  frequently  utilized  in  the  teaching  of 
Literature.  I  use  every  legitimate  opportunity  to 
give  the  children  the  motive  and  incentive  to  get 
a  part  of  the  story  through  the  written  word.  The 
way  to  fix  a  word  permanently  in  a  child's  mind 
is  to  present  it  to  him  through  as  many  senses  as 
possible  and  while  he  is  particularly  interested  in 
the  idea  which  the  word  conveys.  I  place  the 
word  on  the  board  and  while  the  interest  is  in- 
tense have  the  children  read  it,  and  frequently,  if 
it  is  possible,  have  them  re-write  it  while  the  im- 
pression is  deepest  and  freshest.  Several  senses 
are  used,  they  hear  the  word  while  the  idea  is 
most  interested,  they  see  it  on  the  board,  and 
get  a  muscular  sense  of  it  by  means  of  writing; 
the  physiological  circuit  is  completed  and  the 
functioning  of  the  word  greatly  helped.  The 
teaching  of  spelling  and  of  reading  should  accom- 
pany the  teaching  of  every  subject. 

Stenographic  Record  of  Group  II 

T.  Let  me  tell  you  something.  Tomorrow 
morning  we  are  going  to  have  the  Morning  Ex- 
ercises instead  of  on  Thursday. 

BARBARA..  And  you  will  let  me  be  something.  I 
have  never  been  anything. 

T.  May  I  suggest  something  for  us  to  do  for 
the  school  at  our  exercise?  Or,  has  somebody 
something  to  suggest? 

CYNTHIA.    I  want  to  have  the  last  story. 

T.    What  was  that? 

BARBARA.     "The  Little  Red  Hen." 


28  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

T.  Do  you  think  we  can  do  "The  Little  Bed 
Hen,"  or  do  you  think  we  had  better  do  the  Par- 
see  man!  Elizabeth,  what  do  you  think? 

ELIZABETH.  I  think  we  better  try  both  and  the 
one  we  do  the  best  we  can  take. 

T.  Which  one  do  you  think  it  very  likely  we 
shall  do  the  best? 

BAKBABA.    "The  Little  Red  Hen." 

T.  Why,  Barbara?  Why  do  you  think  we  will 
be  able  to  do  that  perhaps  better  than  the  other? 

BAKBABA.     Because  we  have  done  it  more. 

T.  Elizabeth,  do  you  think  we  had  better 
spend  all  our  time  on  "The  Little  Red  Hen,"  or 
try  both  and  see  which  one  we  do  better? 


LOUISE.        I  T  ,,.  ,   ,    4.1 
think  both. 


ELIZABETH. 

T.    Which  one  shall  we  begin  with? 

ELIZABETH.    ' '  The  Little  Red  Hen. ' ' 

T.  Let's  sit  down,  then,  and  think  very  care- 
fully what  we  are  going  to  do,  because  unless  we 
think  very  carefully  we  shan't  make  it  at  all 
clear  to  people  like  Doris  and  Perkins,  who  are 
very  much  younger  than  we  are.  If  we  sit  very 
still  we  can  think  clearly.  (All  become  very  atten- 
tive.) What  is  the  very  first  scene  in  "The  Little 
Red  Hen,"  Barbara?  ' 

BAKBABA.  When  the  fox  was  in  bed  and  his 
mother  called  him  to  come  down  and  have  his 
breakfast  and  he  said,  "I  have  a  plan  to  catch 
the  little  red  hen,"  his  mother  said,  "You  can 
never  catch  the  little  red  hen;  she  has  played  so 
many  tricks  on  us."  Then  the  little  fox  had  his 
breakfast  and  told  his  mother  to  give  him  his  bag 
and  to  have  the  pot  boiling  when  he  got  home, 


LITERATURE  29 

and  then  he  went  skipping  along  down  the  path 
to  go  to  the  little  red  hen's  house. 

T.  That  is  the  first  scene.  Did  she  leave  out 
anything,  Louise! 

LOUISE.    Yes. 

T.    What? 

LOUISE.  Where  he  came  down  smiling  and  his 
mother  asked  him 

T.    He  was  very  happy? 

LOUISE.  Yes,  he  was  smiling  and  thought  he 
wouldn't  say  anything. 

T.  What  do  you  think,  Cynthia,  the  mother 
was  doing  while  the  fox  was  thinking? 

CYNTHIA.    Getting  breakfast. 

T.  Getting  breakfast.  Now,  suppose  you  are 
that  fox  over  there  in  bed,  Elizabeth.  Will  you 
go  over  there  just  a  minute? 

T.  Now,  here  is  the  little  fox.  What  is  she 
doing? 

CHILDREN.    Thinking. 

T.  Does  she  look  as  if  she  was  thinking?  (Tine 
class  looks  at  Elizabeth.)  Yes.  She  wakes  up 
early.  Here  is  her  mother  right  here,  getting 
breakfast.  She  is  not  saying  anything.  Let's 
see  if  you  are  really  doing  anything.  Barbara, 
what  are  you  doing? 

BARBARA.    Getting  breakfast. 

T.  There  must  be  some  particular  step  in  get- 
ting breakfast.  What  is  it? 

CYNTHIA.    Cooking. 

BARBARA.     Cooking. 

T.    Cooking  what  ? 

LOUISE.    Cooking  oatmeal. 

T.    Let's  see  you  cooking  oatmeal. 


30  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

BAKBAEA.    It  is  on  the  stove. 

T.    What  are  you  doing  to  it! 

LOUISE.    Stirring  it  up. 

T.  Come,  let's  see.  She  is  getting  breakfast, 
and  the  oatmeal  is  almost  done.  Then  what  was 
the  little  fox  doing? 

ELIZABETH.  I  think  I  will  have  to  catch  the 
little  red  hen  and  I  don't  know  any  plan.  I  guess 
I  will  have  to  think.  (Pause.)  I  think  I  have  a 
plan  now. 

LOUISE.    Come  down,  little  fox,  to  breakfast. 

T.    She  is  coming  down  now. 

LOUISE.    What  are  you  smiling  for? 

ELIZABETH.  Because  I  have  a  plan  to  catch  the 
little  red  hen. 

LOUISE.    You  can  never  catch  her. 

ELIZABETH.  You  see!  You  just  give  me  my 
breakfast  and  I  will  have  the  little  red  hen  for 
you.  Be  sure  to  have  the  pot  boiling. 

T.  I  didn't  see  you  eating  breakfast.  (They 
begin  to  eat.) 

CYNTHIA.  They  shouldn't  eat  like  that.  Foxes 
eat  like  dogs.  Dogs  don't  take  things  up  in  their 
hands.  They  get  down  like  this.  (Illustrating.) 

ELIZABETH.    Give  me  my  bag,  mother. 

T.  Let's  sit  down  a  minute.  That  was  splen- 
did. What  was  there  that  was  so  good  about  it? 
•(They  pause  to  consider.)  It  is  good  and  if  we 
can  keep  this  for  tomorrow  it  will  be  fine.  The 
play  begins  with  his  mother  doing  what,  Louise? 

LOUISE.     Getting  breakfast. 

T.  Yes,  stirring  the  oatmeal.  She  doesn't  say 
anything,  but  is  just  working,  and  up  in  the  bed 
was  the  little  fox  and  he  was  talking  to  himself? 


LITERATURE  31 

LOUISE.    Yes. 

T.  And  you  know  what  Elizabeth  was  talking 
about,  and  then  when  Elizabeth  thought  of  a  plan, 
did  you  notice  that  Barbara  called  her  to  break- 
fast and  down  came  Elizabeth  and  then  the 
mother  said What  was  it,  Cynthia? 

CYNTHIA.  She  said,  "What  are  you  smiling 
at?" 

T.  And  Barbara  said,  "You  will  never  catch 
the  little  red  hen," — you  know  how  many  times 
the  little  red  hen  has  played  a  trick  on  the  sly  old 
fox ;  and  then  he  tells  the  mother  what  to  do ;  and 
then  they  did  what,  Louise? 

LOUISE.    Ate  breakfast. 

T.  Then  off  the  little  fox  started.  Now  what 
is  the  very  next  thing,  Louise?  What  is  the  very 
next  thing?  Think  a  minute.  I  am  going  to  catch 
somebody.  What  is  the  next  thing? 

LOUISE.    In  the  play? 

T.    Yes. 

LOUISE.  He  goes  to  the  little  red  hen's  house 
and  hides  behind  the  woodpile. 

T.  Yes,  and  you  see  him  going  and  hiding  and 
watching  for  the  door  to  open.  When  he  gets  be- 
hind the  woodpile,  what  is  the  next  thing,  Bar- 
bara? 

BARBARA.  The  little  red  hen  said:  "I  haven't 
got  any  wood  to  get  my  breakfast  with.  I  will 
have  to  go  out  and  pick  up  some  sticks,"  and  she 
peeked  out,  and  opened  the  door  a  little  bit  and 
peeked  out  with  one  eye,  and  she  didn't  see  any 
fox  anywhere,  and  she  opened  the  door  wide  and 
went  out  herself  to  get  her  wood,  and  when  she 
was  getting  her  wood  and  wasn't  looking,  the  sly 


32  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

old  fox  got  behind  the  door  and  when  she  came 
in  and  shut  the  door  he  jumped  at  her  to  catch 
her. 

T.    Who  will  go  on  from  there? 

LOUISE.  The  little  fox  jumped  at  her  and  they 
had  a  little  fight 

T.    Careful, — they  did  what? 

LOUISE.  They  got  excited,  and  the  hen  flew  up 
on  a  beam  and  the  fox  tried  to  grab  her,  and  then 
he  said,  * '  You  'd  better  come  down,  because  I  will 
get  you  anyway."  She  said,  "No,  you  won't," 
and  so  you  know  what  he  did?  He  ran  around 
and  around  so  that  he  made  her  dizzy  and  she 
fell  down,  and  he  put  her  into  his  bag  and  went 
off,  and  when  he  was  away  off  he  lay  down  to  get 
a  restf  and  while  he  was  having  a  rest  the  little 
red  hen  had  some  scissors  and  thread  and  a 
needle,  and  she  cut  a  tiny  little  hole  to  see  where 
she  was  and  she  saw  the  fox  asleep  and  she  made 
a  big  hole 

CYNTHIA.  And  then  jumped  out,  and  she  said : 
"Now,  I  will  go  home, — no,  I  won't,  for  then  the 
fox  might  follow  me.  I  will  put  a  stone  in  the 
bag ;  yes,  I  will  put  a  stone  in. ' '  So  she  put  a  stone 
in  and  she  ran  home,  and  in  a  minute  she  got  home, 
and  in  a  minute  the  fox  woke  up  and  he  went  home. 
He  started  home,  and  he  said,  "Ow,  that  rock — 
I  mean,  that  little  red  hen — keeps  hitting  me 
under  the  legs, ' '  and  he  kept  saying  that,  and  then 
he  got  home,  and  he  said  to  his  mother:  "Mother, 
have  you  got  the  pot  boiling  now?  I  have  got  the 
little  red  hen.  Get  hold  of  this.  I  am  holding  it 
down  at  this  end,  and  when  I  let  go,  you  just  be 
ready  to  clap  the  cover  on." 


LITERATURE  33 

T.    Finish  it  for  me,  Elizabeth. 

ELIZABETH.  And  then  the  water  spattered  in 
the  kettle  and  made  a  great  big  splash  and 
splashed  all  over  onto  the  fox  and  scalded  them 
both  to  death. 

T.    They  were  scalded  to  death. 

CYNTHIA.  Elizabeth  said  she  put  the  stone  in 
the  bag  and  then  she  went  home. 

T.    What  did  happen? 

ELIZABETH.  She  sewed  up  the  bag  after  she 
put  the  stone  in  and  then  she  went  home. 

Group  II 

AIM:  To  secure  further  dramatic  expression 
through  the  work  on  our  dramatization  of  Haw- 
thorne's "The  Paradise  of  Children." 

COMMENT  :  It  is  hardly  possible  to  describe  the 
method  of  teaching  young  people  to  act  a  play. 
My  purpose  is  quite  the  reverse  of  the  profes- 
sional one.  I  am  not  striving  primarily  for  a 
performance  that  will  give  the  audience  the  sem- 
blance of  reality.  The  great  concern  is  the  devel- 
opment of  the  latent  intellectual  and  emotional 
capacities  of  the  individual.  I  strive  to  have  each 
actor  so  understand  and  feel  the  story  and  his 
part  in  relation  to  the  whole,  that  he  is  filled  with 
the  spirit  and  purpose  of  the  play,  and  out  of  real 
understanding  and  genuine  feeling  he  makes  his 
part  live  for  the  audience.  The  goal  is  reached 
through  subtle  methods  that  cannot  be  put  down 
briefly  in  writing. 

I  believe  that  the  teacher  or  leader  can  get 
worth-while  results  and  true  expression  in  pupils 
only  through  the  slow  process  of  enlarging  the 


34  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

intellectual  horizon,  by  deepening  the  sympathies 
and  clarifying  the  judgment.  The  physical  mani- 
festation of  thought  and  emotion  should  not  be 
conscious  artificialities,  but  should  proceed  from 
genuine  thinking  and  feeling.  To  do  this,  the 
teacher  must  understand  the  child's  mode  of 
thinking  and  feeling  and  must  sympathetically 
enter  into  the  spirit  of  the  story  and  live  in  it  with 
the  actors. 

There  are  instructors,  who  claim  to  be  teaching 
dramatic  art,  who  give  directions  in  the  most  cold 
and  matter-of-fact  manner,  they  themselves  quite 
out  of  sympathy  with  the  emotion  they  expect  to 
get  from  their  pupils.  The  result  is  most  dele- 
terious to  the  pupils.  No  one  would  try  to  go  up 
in  an  aeroplane  and  guide  it  without  a  knowledge 
of  its  mechanism.  Why  should  anyone  ignorant 
of  the  principles  of  dramatic  expression  dare  to 
tamper  with  this  fine  art? 

RESPONSE  :  One  way  to  impart  an  understand- 
ing of  a  situation  that  a  child  has  never  actually 
experienced  is  to  utilize  a  similar  situation  with 
which  he  is  familiar,  and  through  his  real  experi- 
ence lead  him  to  appreciate  the  situation  in  the 
fable.  For  a  simple  illustration — Nancy  could 
not  seem  to  realize  or  express  Pandora's  eager- 
ness to  know  the  contents  of  the  box  that  Hermes 
had  given  into  the  care  of  Epimetheus.  Her 
rendering  of  the  lines : ' '  It  certainly  is  a  beautiful 
box.  I  wonder  what  there  can  be  inside!"  was 
devoid  of  real  appreciation,  and  consequently  the 
emphasis  and  rhythm  were  wrong.  To  bring  the 
situation  home  to  the  class  we  made  believe  that 
it  was  Christmas  morning,  father  and  mother 


LITERATURE  35 

were  at  the  table  with  a  chest  containing  a  lovely 
string  of  pearls,  etc.  The  result  was  the  correct 
feeling  and  thinking  with  the  consequent  correct 
emphasis  and  inflection. 

The  ill  effects  of  definite  training  of  young 
people  in  the  necessarily  over-emphasized  ges- 
tures and  movements  of  pantomime  are  to  be 
seen  in  Nancy.*  Formal  pantomime  has  tended 
to  hide  her  natural  charm  and  grace  and  make 
her  acting  artificial  and  extravagant. 

The  pantomimist  is  deprived  of  one  of  the  most 
valuable  and  natural  avenues  of  expression,  the 
voice ;  consequently,  the  body  has  to  be  used  in  an 
extravagant  and  a  more  or  less  conventional  way. 
The  pantomimist 's  gestures  are  often  quite  as 
over-emphasized  as  those  of  the  man  who  is  dumb 
and  tries  to  convey  his  thoughts  and  emotions  by 
means  of  his  fingers.  Pantomime  as  an  art  is 
unnatural  to  young  people,  and  training  in  this 
special  art  causes  an  unnatural  mode  of  expres- 
sion that  hinders  the  fullest  and  most  harmonious 
development  of  the  individual. 

Group  HI 

AIM  :  Preparation  for  the  Morning  Exercise. 

METHOD:  The  subject  of  the  Morning  Exercise 
was  ballads.  A  report  of  the  exercise  was  taken 
in  shorthand.  Some  of  the  preparation  was  done 
outside  of  the  class  periods.  Jessie  worked  out 
her  remarks  on  ballads  quite  independently. 
Gardner  spent  a  considerable  amount  of  time  at 

*  Nancy  had  had  special  training  in  the  art  of  pantomime  with 
a  member  of  the  Bussian  Ballet. 


36  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

home  studying  and  reading  aloud  "The  Inchcape 
Rock,"  by  Southey.  Stephen  studied  the  "Inci- 
dent in  the  French  Camp, ' '  by  Browning.  Every 
one  studied  "The  Twa  Corbies"  in  anticipation 
of  the  selection  of  two  people  to  read  it  as  a  dia- 
logue at  the  general  assembly.  Richard  L.  quite 
without  suggestion  of  the  idea  from  anyone,  re- 
wrote "The  Twa  Corbies,"  substituting  modern 
English  words  for  the  archaic  ones  of  the  old 
ballad.  (In  recognition  of  his  initiative  I  asked 
him  to  read  his  arrangement  at  the  Morning  Ex- 
ercise.) 

These  individual  contributions  gave  me  a  splen- 
did opportunity  to  do  some  intimate  private  work 
and  give  some  of  the  help  and  suggestions  that 
each  most  needed. 

The  recitation  period  was  spent  in  selecting 
some  of  the  boys  to  explain  to  the  whole  school 
the  obscure  words  and  phrases  in  "The  Twa 
Corbies"  and  "Jock  of  Hazeldean";  also  in  the 
oral  reading  of  "The  Twa  Corbies"  to  find  three 
people  to  present  it  at  the  Morning  Exercise. 

RESPONSE:  As  can  be  readily  seen,  the  Morn- 
ing Exercise  was  the  motive  for  a  considerable 
amount  of  interesting  but  hard  work,  both  indi- 
vidual and  group. 

When  the  class  assembled  I  was  working  with 
Stephen ;  the  boys  when  they  came  in,  seeing  that 
I  was  busy,  immediately  and  quietly  arranged  the 
chairs  in  the  customary  semicircle,  and  took  their 
places  ready  for  work.  This  seemed  to  me  a 
splendid  expression  of  their  attitude  toward  the 
school.  Boys  seldom  leave  their  play  and  their 
fun  until  some  one  calls  them  to  order. 


LITERATURE  37 

Practically  every  one  had  some  part  in  the 
Morning  Exercise. 

"The  Congo"  and  "The  Twa  Corbies"  have  so 
impressed  the  imagination  of  these  boys,  that 
their  parents  have  remarked  upon  the  frequency 
(with  which  they  quote  passages  from  these  stories. 
They  enjoy  the  swing,  the  elemental  feeling,  and 
even  brutal  touches.  To  interest  people  we  must 
strive  to  find  literature  that  expresses  thoughts 
and  emotions  that  they  have  felt  or  can  feel,  lead- 
ing them  on  step  by  step  to  larger  fields  of  inter- 
est and  broader  horizons.  The  attempt  to  force 
upon  young  people  a  poem  that  deals  with  thought 
and  feeling  that  they  cannot  with  pleasure  and 
profit  comprehend  may  make  them  permanently 
dislike  poetry.  Browning  gives  the  thought  ex- 
pression in  "The  Last  Ride  Together."  "What 
does  it  all  mean,  poet?  Well,  your  brains  beat 
into  rhythm,  you  tell  what  we  felt  only." 

Steno graphic  Record  of  Morning  Exercise 

T.  First  of  all,  Jessie  is  going  to  tell  us  a  little 
about  ballads.  (Turning  to  the  younger  chil- 
dren.) Perhaps  you  won't  all  understand  about 
ballads,  but  I  think  some  of  the  girls  will. 

JESSIE.  In  the  olden  days,  a  long  time  ago, 
people  didn't  have  any  newspapers;  they  had  to 
have  something  to  take  their  place,  and  the  min- 
strels came Can  any  of  the  small  children 

tell  me  what  a  minstrel  is?  (No  answer.)  .Well, 
they  were  men  that  usually  knew  how  to  play  some 
instrument, — I  think  it  was  generally  a  harp, — 
and  when  the  people  wanted  to  know  what  was 

54 


38  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

going  on, — a  thrilling  battle  that  had  taken  place 
or  a  duel, — the  minstrels  knew  all  about  it,  and 
they  made  songs  about  these  things, — songs  about 
the  battles.  The  people  liked  to  hear  about  hor- 
rible things  that  had  happened ;  they  liked  nothing 
better  than  to  have  the  minstrels  come  and  sing 
songs  of  wonderful  bravery  and  thrilling  fights. 
Some  of  these  ballads  just  told  about  one  or  two 
incidents.  Of  course,  they  were  very  plain,  be- 
cause people  didn't  understand  the  more  com- 
plex pieces  of  literature  we  have  today.  They 
told  plainly  about  events.  It  is  characteristic  of 
ballads  that  they  told  things  very  directly;  some 
told  long  stories,  and  some  just  told  about  one 
thing.  There  are  different  kinds  of  ballads.  The 
one  we  are  going  to  read  is  a  narrative  ballad  that 
tells  about  an  event  that  has  happened. 

T.  If  the  people  were  very,  very  rich,  some- 
times they  had  a  minstrel  in  their  own  household 
who  would  tell  the  experiences  that  the  family 
had  in  war  or  at  hunting  or  out  on  the  ocean; 
and  if  one  of  the  family  did  acts  that  were  very 
brave,  the  minstrel  would  keep  account  of  them 
and  would  make  songs  about  them;  but  many 
people  could  not  afford  to  have  a  regular  minstrel 
in  their  homes,  and  so  men  went  about  from  house 
to  house  telling  about  the  things  that  had  hap- 
pened. Suppose  you  never  heard  about  what  was 
going  on  except  when  people  came  to  visit  you. 
Wouldn't  you  be  eager  to  hear  what  was  going 
on  in  Boston  and  in  other  places?  (Children  in- 
dicated that  they  would.)  That  is  the  way  it  was 
in  those  days;  and  when  the  minstrel  came  he 
would  tell  over  and  over  again  the  events  the 


LITERATURE  39 

people  liked  to  hear  about, — he  did  not  always  tell 
the  whole  story.  So  in  "The  Twa  Corbies"  that 
we  are  going  to  read,  you  won't  hear  the  whole 
story;  you  won't  know  that  probably  a  man  was 
killed  while  out  hunting  by  another  man  who  left 
him  for  the  old  crows  to  eat  up, — in  those  days 
they  loved  to  hear  of  horrible  things.  Most  people 
knew  this  story,  but  they  liked  to  hear  it  again 
and  again.  Some  of  the  words  are  very  curious, 
because  they  were  written  years  ago.  Lawrence, 
will  you  tell  us  what  these  words  mean  (indicating 
words  on  board):  "fail  dyke" — "hause  bane" — 
"theek"  —  "alane"  —  "mane"  —  "keens"  — 
"een"? 

(Lawrence  reads  words  and  gives  meaning — 
"fail  dyke"=turf  bank,  "hause  bane"— neck 
bone,  "theek"  =  to  thatch,  "alane"  =  alone, 
"mane"— talk,  "  keens  "=knows,  "een"—eyes.) 

T.  Now  a  man  was  walking  along  in  the  morn- 
ing and  he  heard  these  two  old,  black,  wicked 
crows  talking.  I  am  going  to  ask  Lawrence  to  be 
that  man  and  tell  us  what  he  was  doing,  and  then 
I  am  going  to  ask  Jessie  to  be  the  second  of  those 
wicked  old  crows  sitting  over  here  (indicating 
chair  on  the  stage),  and  I  am  going  to  ask  Richard 
N.  to  be  the  other  of  those  old  crows.  Richard  N. 
knows  where  there  is  a  good  dinner  for  himself. 

(The  children  take  places  and  read  in  dramatic 
manner  their  respective  parts.) 

T.  Now  I  am  going  to  read  you  a  ballad  that 
was  written  by  Sir  Walter  Scott;  not  one  of  the 
really  old  ballads,  but  one  written  by  a  Scotsman 
who  knew  the  old  ballads  and  liked  to  write  in 
the  way  the  minstrels  did.  (Turning  to  Donald.) 


40  A  SCHOOL  INACTION 

Would  yon  tell  us,  Donald,  what  these  words 
mean?  (Pointing  to  words  on  blackboard,  which 
Donald  reads,  giving  the  modern  words  for  the 
same  —  "sae"  =  so,  "loot"  =  let,  "fa'"  =  fall, 
"ha'"=hall,  "kirk"=church,  "baith"=both.) 
Miss  C.  said  she  would  play  the  ballad  music  for 
me.  I  am  going  to  ask  you  to  imagine  that  I  am 
the  minstrel  and  that  I  am  going  to  tell  you  a 
story  that  you  all  know  about, — a  story  about  a 
poor  young  lady  who  wanted  very  much  to  marry 
Jock  o  *  Hazeldean, — Jack,  his  name  probably  was, 
— but  her  father  said,  no,  he  wanted  her  to  marry 
somebody  else.  In  those  days  young  ladies  never 
could  say  whom  they  wanted  to  marry,  but  had  to 
do  exactly  as  their  fathers  said.  They  told  her 
what  a  splendid  young  man  this  was  that  they 
wanted  her  to  marry.  She  wouldn't  say  anything, 
but  just  wept;  finally  they  got  all  ready  for  the 
wedding,  the  church  was  decorated  and  every- 
body was  there,  and  they  said,  "Why,  where  is 
the  young  lady!'*  They  went  to  look  for  her, 
but  she  wasn't  to  be  found,  for  she  had  skipped 
off  with  the  man  that  her  father  didn't  want  her 
to  marry.  The  people  all  knew  this  story;  so  the 
minstrel  would  come,  and  he  would  play  a  few 
chords  on  his  harp  and  then  would  begin  the 
story;  perhaps  sometimes  he  sang  it,  sometimes 
he  swayed  his  body,  but  sometimes  he  just  said  it 
as  he  played  his  harp.  So  if  you  will  imagine, 
please,  that  I  am  sitting  down  here  and  playing 
on  my  harp  and  that  you  are  listening — here  we 
are  away  over  in  Scotland  in  a  quaint  old  Scotch 
home;  the  only  fire  is  the  fire  in  the  fireplace;  it 
is  a  winter  night  and  the  winds  blow;  it  is  snow- 


LITERATURE  41 

ing;  I  have  come  in,  and  you  say,  " Minstrel,  tell 
us  the  story  of  Jock  o'  Hazeldean";  I  say,  "I 
will  do  that,"  and  I  get  out  my  little  harp,  and 
begin.  (Reads  "Jock  o'  Hazeldean"  with  piano 
accompaniment  and  suggests  by  pantomime  the 
action.)  Many  people  have  liked  the  original 
ballads  because  they  are  very  easy  to  understand 
and  easy  to  write.  They  have  a  very  simple 
swing  or  rhythm  (giving  illustration  of  the  bal- 
lad rhythm).  I  think  you  could  write  one  (mak- 
ing up  on  the  moment  the  following  ballad  com- 
plete). 

There  was  a  man  of  Boston  town; 
He  had  a  cloak  of  black. 

Who  can  finish  it? 

A  PUPIL.    He  came  into  this  little  town. 

STEPHEN.    And  bought  a  little  shack 

T.    Along  the  railroad  track. 

T.  You  can  make  them  up  very  quickly.  Now 
the  poet  So'uthey  said,  "I  am  going  to  write  a 
ballad,"  and  he  wrote  one  which  Gardner  is  going 
to  read — "The  Inchcape  Rock." 

(Gardner  reads  poem.)* 

T.  The  people  loved  thrilling  experiences,  you 
see,  and  so  the  ballad-makers  made  them  the  sub- 
ject of  their  songs.  Some  of  our  modern  writers 
have  written  things  about  war.  I  read  one  the 
other  day  to  you  which  I  am  going  to  ask  Stephen 
to  re-read.  It  is  an  incident  in  the  French  cam- 
paign that  was  written  by  a  man  named  Robert 

*  Gardner  so  caught  the  keen  interest  of  the  audience  that  he 
quite  submerged  himself  in  his  story  and  read  .remarkably  well, 


42  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

Browning,  who  wrote  some  forty  or  more  years 
ago.  It  hasn't  just  the  swing  of  the  early  bal- 
lads, but  is  in  the  ballad  style. 

(Stephen  reads  "An  Incident  in  the  French 
Camp/'  by  Robert  Browning.) 

T.  The  time  is  nearly  gone,  but  I  want  to  take 
a  minute  to  read  a  modern  ballad  that  is  full  of 
funny  things.  Ballads  weren't  always  serious, 
some  were  very  humorous.  This  was  written  by 
Mr.  Carroll.  (Reads  "The  Walrus  and  the  Car- 
penter.") You  see,  that  is  an  example  of  pure 
nonsense. 

NOTE. — Owing  to  the  unfamiliarity  of  the  children 
with  Morning  Exercises,  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  take 
the  major  part  of  the  work  and  keep  the  interest  high; 
therefore  the  teacher  felt  it  wise  to  create  the  atmosphere 
and  keep  the  spirit  of  the  exercise  ablaze.  The  interest 
was  intense.  One  boy  wept  during  the  reading  of  ' '  Jock 
o'  Hazeldean, "  and  a  guest,  moved  by  the  feeling  of 
the  assembly,  dashed  off  the  following  quatrain: — 

Before  the  magic  of  your  words 
The  raftered  schoolroom  fades  away, 
And  castled  walls  and  ringing  cries 
Eise  up  to  charm  our  thoughts  away. 

Stenographic  Record  of  Group  III 

NOTE. — One  of  a  number  of  lessons  on  ballads.  The 
tremendous  interest  awakened  in  Lindsay's  poem  "The 
Congo ' '  made  it  seem  worth  while  to  dwell  upon  it  longer 
than  was  planned. 

T.  Yesterday  we  talked  about  people  here  in 
the  United  States  who  are  so  primitive  that  they 
express  themselves  much  as  the  ballad  singers  did 
in  the  olden  times;  what  people  did  we  find  were 
of  that  type? 

CHILDREN.    Negroes. 

T.    We  found  that  they  express  themselves  in 


LITERATURE  43 

a  very  rhythmic  sort  of  fashion.  What  did  you 
tell  us,  Jessie,  about  the  negroes! 

JESSIE.  I  don't  know  what  I  said  except  that 
their  idea  was  to  have  a  pronounced  rhythm  and 
didn't  have  much  tune,  mostly  monotones,  and 
they  put  the  emphasis  on  the  rhythm,  and  the 
swing  runs  through  all  they  sing. 

T.  Is  it  somewhat  like  our  very  modern  musio 
where  it  is  very  complicated  and  you  have  to 
listen  very  carefully  for  the  theme  which  runs 
through  all  the  difficult  changes,  or  is  it  more  like 
our  modern  music  where  the  bass  keeps  going 
turn,  turn,  marking  the  time,  and  the  clear  melody 
runs  in  the  treble  f  Is  it  very  complex,  where  you 
have  to  listen  for  the  melody,  or  is  the  melody 
very  pronounced? 

GARDNER.    You  have  to  listen  pretty  hard. 

T.  You  don't  think  you  could  catch  the  air 
very  quickly  and  whistle  it! 

CHILDREN.  (Not  agreeing  with  Gardner.)  Yes. 
You  could. 

T.    Do  you  recall  any  negro  melody? 

CHILDREN.     Swanee  River. 

T.    Has  that  a  very  decided  air? 

CHILDREN.     Yes. 

T.  How  many  think  the  melody  is  very  pro- 
nounced and  not  very  hidden,  subtle,  or  complex! 
(No  replies  are  volunteered.)  What  do  we  say 
about  the  negroes  we  hear  singing? 

RICHARD  N.  They  sing  a  song  about  how  they 
steal  a  chicken  and  what  a  good  time  they  have 
and  what  they  have  for  dinner,  and  things  like 
that. 

T.    They  sing  about  very  simple  things? 


44  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

KICHARD  N.  Yes,  and  they  have  something 
they  pound,  and  they  beat  time  with  their  hands. 

RICHARD  L.  There  was  a  lady  here,  a  sort  of 
mulatto,  who  sang  lots  of  songs,  and  there  were 
some  other  people  that  danced. 

T.    Did  they  sing  any  religious  songs? 

EICHAED  L.    No. 

GARDNER.     They  sing  a  sort  of  ragtime. 

T.  Yes,  that  is  it,  and  the  ballads  were  really 
the  ragtime  of  their  day.  The  negro  songs  are 
apt  to  be  very  religious.  I  am  going  to  read  what 
I  read  yesterday,  a  poem  by  Vachel  Lindsay,  in 
which  he  is  trying  to  show  the  negro  in  his  natural 
environment  in  Africa. 

JESSIE.  We  heard  Mr.  Lindsay  recite  that  in 
Chicago.  He  tried  to  show  the  negro  people  in 
the  way  they  would  have  sung  their  songs. 

T.  Yes,  that  is  what  he  was  trying  to  do. 
When  Mr.  Lindsay  paced  around  the  stage  and 
used  his  body  and  his  hands  he  was  trying  to 
show  the  emotional  indulgences  of  people  when 
moved  by  religious  emotion.  He  gives  us  the  pic- 
ture of  these  colored  people  in  a  room  over  in 
Africa ;  they  are  very  much  stirred  by  their  reli- 
gious feeling.  If  you  were  to  go  to  a  negro  service 
when  they  become  very  much  moved,  you  would 
find  that  they  shout,  and  act  very  peculiarly.  The 
first  time  I  went  to  such  a  meeting  I  thought  there 
was  something  the  matter  with  the  men  and  won- 
dered why  they  didn't  put  some  of  them  out,  but 
after  a  time  I  realized  it  was  their  way  of  express- 
ing their  emotions.  Now  I  am  going  to  read  this 
poem  and  try  to  suggest  the  way  in  which  Mr. 
Lindsay  read  it.  I  am  not  very  familiar  with  it, 


LITERATURE  45 

but  shall  try  to  suggest  the  way  those  people  felt ; 
I  shall  not  tramp  around  the  stage,  but  will  try 
to  give  you  the  rhythm  in  this  study  of  the  negro 
race.  (Reads.)  "The  Congo  I.  Their  Basic 
Savagery."  Now  what  does  the  poem  do  that  I 
could  not  show  in  my  telling  in  my  own  words 
the  story  of  these  men  who  are  getting  interested 
in  religion? 

GARDNER.    It  expresses  it  better. 

T.    Why? 

RICHARD  N.    It  is  the  music  in  it. 

JESSIE.    The  directness. 

T.  Yes,  the  music  does  express  it  better  and 
more  directly.  (Reads  a  portion  of  the  poem.) 
Do  you  wonder  that  they  "get  religion"  when  all 
those  things  are  going  on?  Do  you  wonder  that 
men  like  Billy  Sunday  can  make  people  feel  that 
they  want  to  get  religion  when  all  this  excitement 
is  going  on?  Do  you  wonder  that  it  stirs  the 
people?  (Reads  another  portion  of  the  poem.) 
Is  that  the  same  kind  of  story  that  the  old  ballad 
people  liked  to  tell  about? 

CHILDREN.    Yes. 

T.  Does  it  express  something  that  seems  to  be 
innate  in  people?  Do  they  like  to  tell  horrible 
things  and  exciting  things? 

CHILDREN.    Yes. 

T.  If  something  frightful  happens  in  Boston, 
New  York,  or  Chicago,  you  know  how  the  crowds 
stand  around  the  bulletin-boards  and  try  to  get 
the  details ;  and  they  like  to  go  to  the  moving  pic- 
tures. Do  you  think  this  liking  for  the  spectacu- 
lar is  what  drives  people  to  the  movies?  Their 
desire  for  something  thrilling? 


46  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

CHILDREN.    Yes.    Read  the  poem  again. 

T.     (Reads.) 

CARL.    Let  us  have  another  one. 

T.  We  will  sometime.  Would  you  like  to  be 
back  in  the  primitive  stage! 

RICHARD  L.     That  suits  me. 

T.  Do  you  think  some  of  us  haven't  entirely 
grown  out  of  that  age ;  that  we  haven't  progressed 
very  much? 

JESSIE.  It  takes  a  few  generations  for  people 
to  get  out  of  it.  It  is  within  us. 

T.  As  we  said  the  other  day,  when  we  get  very 
angry  it  is  the  primitive  spirit  that  makes  us 
want  to  strike  people,  and  the  only  thing  that 
keeps  us  from  doing  it  is, — what? 

GARDNER.  Law.  Dr.  Jekyll  and  Mr.  Hyde  was 
not  afraid  of  law. 

T.  But  he  was  unbalanced.  We  will  not  dis- 
cuss that  book  now,  though.  You  see  the  ballad 
singers  expressed  themselves  in  the  primitive 
way;  you  often  see  small  children  who  cannot 
sit  still  and  listen  long  at  a  time,  but  have  to  be 
moving  their  bodies,  they  cannot  give  attention 
to  a  single  subject;  but  after  a  while  as  we  get 
further  from  the  primitive  stage  our  intelligence 
directs  our  wills  and  we  are  able  to  direct  the 
physical  manifestation  of  our  feelings.  As  it  says 
in  the  Bible, — when  I  was  a  child  I  thought  as  a 
child,  I  behaved  as  a  child,  and  when  I  became  a 
man  I  put  away  childish  things.  That  isn't  ex- 
actly as  it  is  stated  in  the  Bible.  You  see  this 
was  the  childhood  period  of  the  race  when  they 
gave  physical  manifestations  of  their  feelings  and 


LITERATURE  47 

liked  to  hear  over  and  over  the  stories  told  by  the 
ballad  singers. 

GABDNEB.  I  think  they  had  more  good  songs 
and  more  beautiful  things  in  the  old  days  than 
they  do  now. 

T.    You  do  think  so? 

GABDNEB.    Yes,  I  think  so. 

RICHABD  N.    And  Art. 

GABDNEB.  They  were  more  social  and  nice ;  the 
songs  were  simple  and  pretty  and  nice. 

T.  Do  you  think  "The  Twa  Corbies"  is  more 
beautiful  than — (The  stenographer  did  not  catch 
the  title.) 

GABDNEB.    More  interesting. 

RICHABD  L.  More  simple  and  easy  to  under- 
stand. 

T.  Donald,  may  I  ask  you  a  question!  Do  you 
think  one  reason  why  we  enjoy  these  old  ballads 
is  because  of  their  simplicity? 

DONALD.    Yes. 

T.    And  they  are  good  stories? 

JESSIE.  They  are  very  crude,  but  they  seem  to 
be  better  understood  as  the  people  understood 
things  in  those  days.  The  people  were  not  up  to 
complex  pieces  of  literature  then,  and  the  stories 
were  made  so  they  could  understand  them. 

T.  Then  we  must  remember  that  there  is  a 
great  deal  of  poetry  written  by  people  who  have 
quite  grown  out  of  that  child  stage,  and  that  sort 
of  poetry  you  would  not  expect  to  like  now,  would 
you? 

CHILDBEN.    No. 

T.    And  can't  you  see  how  we  older  people 


48  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

naturally  like  something  a  little  more  complex 
than  you  are  enjoying  now!  Eichard  has  a  great 
grievance  against  the  treatment  of  love  in  poetry. 
That  is  because  it  is  often  untruthfully  or  badly 
treated  in  the  moving  pictures;  there  is  a  wishy- 
washy,  sentimental  side  which  is  presented  which 
we  all  dislike  very  much.  But  I  think  we  all  feel 
that  the  affection  which  is  manifested  between 
our  fathers  and  mothers  is  a  tremendously  fine 
thing  and  a  splendid  thing  in  our  lives ;  we  recog- 
nize that  love  is  a  very  real  thing  and  does  exist 
— we  all  appreciate  the  affection  between  brothers 
and  sisters.  What  we  object  to  is  the  silly  side 
which  is  so  often  shown  in  the  moving  pictures. 

RICHABD  N.  (With  disgust.)  They  spend  a 
whole  reel  on  one  kiss. 

T.    Why  do  you  go  to  see  things  like  that? 

RICHARD  N.    I  don't  if  I  know  what  is  coming. 

T.  But  is  it  fair  to  denounce  the  whole  thing 
because  the  side  which  is  oftentimes  treated  in 
stories  and  moving  pictures  is  not  the  real  side? 
Ought  we  to  denounce  the  real  things  because  the 
counterfeit  is  not  worthy?  Don't  you  think 
people  have  expressed  their  real  love  in  some 
stories  in  such  a  beautiful  way  that  you  feel  it  is 
a  beautiful  and  a  wonderful  thing  and  you  like 
to  read  of  it ?  I  think  Robert  Browning's  devotion 
to  his  wife  was  a  wonderful  thing.  She  was  a 
very  great  invalid,  and  his  care  of  her  was  a 
most  beautiful  thing  in  his  life,  and  I  think  I  could 
read  you  one  of  his  poems  that  would  make  you 
feel  that  there  was  something  very  real  in  that 
love. 

RICHARD  N.    We  feel  affection  for  animals. 


LITERATURE  49 

T.  Don't  you  think  you  feel  affection  for  any 
human  beings  ? 

RICHARD  N.  I  like  them,  but  I  don't  believe  in 
love. 

T.  How  do  you  feel  about  your  home  people; 
don't  you  love  them? 

RICHARD  N.    Yes ;  I  like  them  all  right. 

T.  Don't  you  believe  in  the  affection  between 
your  father  and  mother  and  their  love  for  you! 

RICHARD  N.  That  is  natural.  It  ought  to  be 
like  that. 

T.  That  is  it.  You  do  not  object  to  the  affec- 
tion between  members  of  your  family  because  it 
is  so  simple  and  natural.  Then  let  us  remember 
that  this  is  the  real  thing,  real  love,  and  not 
condemn  it  because  we  do  not  approve  of  what  is 
often  placed  before  us  in  stories.  (Bell  prevented 
further  development  of  the  subject  in  hand.)  And 
let  us  remember  that  there  are  a  great  many 
things  that  have  been  written  which  older  people 
enjoy  very  much,  and  not  feel  that  there  is  nothing 
in  them  of  interest  because  we  can't  appreciate 
them  yet. 

NOTE. — Few  of  the  children  have  ever  been  in  a  school 
where  they  were  members  of  a  group  freely  considering 
a  topic  of  general  interest,  and  in  which  they  could  unre- 
servedly express  their  thoughts  and  opinions.  While  the 
sense  of  freedom  has  been  slowly  developing  it  has  been 
necessary  for  the  teacher  to  take  a  more  active  part  in 
the  recitation  than  is  his  wont. 

Group  HI 

AIM:  To  ascertain  the  attitude  of  the  boys 
toward  poetry  and  begin  a  periodical  considera- 
tion of  poetry  with  the  hope  of  making  them  enjoy 
better  verse. 


50  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

METHOD:  I  read,  without  comments,  "The 
Inchcape  Rock"  by  Robert  Southey.  Then  gave 
the  class  a  chance  for  questions  and  for  members 
of  the  class  to  elucidate  passages  about  which 
questions  arose.  I  then  read  another  poem  about 
the  sea — "A  Wet  Sheet  and  a  Flowing  Sea"  by 
Cunningham.  I  asked  which  poem  they  pre- 
ferred, and  with  but  two  exceptions  they  pre- 
ferred "The  Inchcape  Rock."  Questioned  them 
as  to  their  reasons  for  preferring  the  Southey 
poem.  I  then  told  the  story  of  the  Inchcape  Rock 
as  it  might  appear  in  prose  form  in  any  news- 
paper. Got  from  the  boys  their  reasons  for  pre- 
ferring the  poetic  version.  Endeavored  to  sum 
up  the  lesson  and  bring  home  to  them  the  reason 
why  most  of  them  preferred  the  story-telling 
poem  to  the  lyric  poem.  Strove  to  make  them  see 
the  value  and  charm  of  lyric  poetry. 

RESPONSE.  All  liked  the  Southey  poem  and  all 
but  two  preferred  it  to  the  lyric  verse.  They  said 
they  preferred  it  because  it  told  an  interesting 
story. 

•  (The  love  of  boys,  at  this  period  of  develop- 
ment, for  objective  material  and  human  interest 
should  be  kept  in  mind  and  influence  the  choosing 
of  their  prose  and  verse.  Too  much  lyric  poetry, 
or  lyric  poetry  that  does  not  satisfy  and  express 
a  feeling  or  mood  that  they  have  had  or  can  be 
brought  to  feel  through  the  imagination,  has  a 
tendency  to  create  an  aversion  to  all  poetry, — an 
aversion  that  time  may  never  quite  remove.) 
Jessie,  who  is  older  than  the  others,  and  who  has 
the  woman's  point  of  view,  preferred  the  lyric; 
her  reason  was  that  it  gave  a  much  more  ade- 


LITERATURE  51 

quate  expression  to  the  feeling  that  one  gets  from 
being  on  the  ocean. 

I  tried  to  make  lucid  to  the  class  the  difference 
between  narrative  and  lyric  verse  and  malse  them 
realize  that  each  has  its  place  and  its  special 
charm.  I  told  them  that  they  had  a  perfect  right 
to  their  preference  for  narrative  verse.  Interest- 
ing reasons  were  given  for  preferring  the  poetic 
version  of  the  story  of  Ralph  the  Rover  to  the 
paraphrase  that  I  made  of  it.  One  said  in  the 
poem  the  story  was  more  clear  than  in  my  im- 
provised prose.  I  asked  if  my  story  was  not  cor- 
rect and  clear  in  all  details.  One  replied,  yes,  but 
that  the  poem  made  one  see  the  facts  more 
clearly;  there  were  more  and  better  pictures. 
Others  said  that  the  swing  of  the  poem  was  a 
pleasure;  that  the  author  compared  things  that 
were  interesting;  that  he  chose  his  words  well. 
I  then  gave  a  paraphrase  of  a  line  that  contained 
alliteration,  then  gave  the  line  from  the  text  and 
brought  home  to  all  the  force  and  delight  of  well- 
chosen  words  and  of  alliteration.  Next  I  tried 
to  make  them  enjoy  the  Cunningham  poem. 
Aimed  to  create  a  feeling  for  the  joy  of  speeding 
over  the  ocean  in  a  stiff  breeze.  I  asked  if  such 
a  feeling  was  a  thrilling  one  to  a  person  who 
knew  and  loved  to  sail.  Did  they  imagine  that 
sometimes  people  were  eager  to  express  in  words 
the  thrill  of  such  an  experience?  They  seemed  to 
feel  that  lyric  expression  had  its  place. 

No  one  is  always  in  a  mood  for  lyric  expression 
nor  even  for  narrative,  even  of  the  most  stirring 
kind,  any  more  than  one  is  always  in  a  mood  for 
rich  plum-pudding  or  even  toasted  corn-flakes.  I 


52  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

carried  the  metaphor  further  and  likened  the 
richness  and  condensation  of  the  lyric  to  plum- 
pudding  and  the  lighter  and  more  frequently 
eaten  corn-flakes  or  shredded  wheat  to  the  nar- 
rative expression. 

Group  III 

AIM:  1.  To  complete  the  study  of  "Herve 
Kiel." 

2.  To  acquaint  the  class  with  some  of  the  good 
recent  poetry  that  pictures  the  actualities  of  war- 
fare as  contrasted  to  Browning's  romantic  inter- 
pretation of  one  phase  of  warfare. 

METHOD:  Explained  the  last  stanza  of  "Herve 
Kiel."  Asked  if  they  would  like  to  hear  the  poem 
again  at  some  future  time,  and  the  universal 
request  was  for  an  immediate  re-reading,  which  I 
complied  with. 

Read,  after  creating  a  sympathetic  and  intelli- 
gent background  and  atmosphere,  Wilfred  Wilson 
Gibson's  "In  an  Ambulance,"  "The  Joke";  I 
then  read  without  any  preparatory  discussion  or 
elucidation,  "Back,"  and  got  their  interpretation 
of  its  meaning. 

RESPONSE:  It  is  satisfactory  to  notice  that 
Lawrence  was  willing  to  listen  attentively,  and 
seemingly  with  enjoyment,  to  the  re-reading  of 
"Herve  Riel."  He  even  asked  for  the  exact  title 
of  the  poem,  evidently  desirous  to  look  it  up  for 
himself.* 

After  hearing  "Back"  they  made  interesting 

•Lawrence  had  expressed  at  the  beginning  of  the  course  a 
great  dislike  to  all  literature,  poetry  especially. 


LITERATURE  53 

remarks  regarding  the  seemingly  dual  personality 
in  people.  References  were  made  to  Buck  in  *  *  The 
Call  of  the  Wild"  and  the  way  in  which  his  wolf 
ancestry  constantly  strove  to  overcome  his  civi- 
lized self.  Some  of  the  boys  thought  that  perhaps 
our  own  brute  ancestry  was  turning  us  away  from 
our  civilized  conditions  and  that  this  was  the  part 
explanation  of  the  warfare  that  has  engulfed  the 
world. 

I  strive  to  direct  their  discussion,  but  do  not 
force  upon  them  my  personal  opinions. 

I  believe  that  it  is  right  that  the  study  of  Lit- 
erature should  stimulate  such  whole-hearted  in- 
terest in  the  real  problems  of  life,  and  in  this  I 
believe  lies  one  of  the  great  values  of  such  a 
study.  It  demands  careful  choice  of  material  on 
the  teacher's  part.  Literature  should  be  a 
genuine  delineation  of  human  experience  and  hu- 
man problems  as  well  as  the  embodiment  of 
dreams. 


LITERATURE 

II 

BY  PADRAIC  COLUM 

INTRODUCTION  TO  RECORDS 

I  DID  not  want  to  make  my  teaching  at  the 
Peterborough  Summer  School  "a  course"  in  the 
usual  sense  of  the  term:  what  I  wanted  to  do 
mainly  was  to  awaken  the  children's  imaginations, 
to  make  them  create  something  out  of  their  own 
powers,  and  to  give  them  out  of  a  portion  of  the 
world's  literature  some  characters,  phrases,  and 
incidents  that  would  be  an  accompaniment  to  their 
own  imaginings.  I  wanted,  in  the  case  of  the  older 
children,  to  teach  them  something  of  literary 
technique — as  much  as  would  permit  them  to  see 
towards  what  end  certain  poets  and  story-tellers 
were  striving. 

This  last  intention  I  was  able  to  carry  out  to 
some  degree  in  the  case  of  the  fourth  group — 
boys  of  from  twelve  to  fourteen :  at  the  end  of  the 
term  they  were  able  to  distinguish  and  in  conse- 
quence to  take  a  greater  interest  in  the  various 
forms  of  poetry — narrative,  ode,  sonnet,  lyric, 
dramatic  poem.  These  boys,  too,  had  learned 
something  of  practical  technique  by  writing  verse 
and  having  discussions  about  their  efforts  in  the 
class.  I  did  not  have  them  analyze  the  stories 

54 


LITERATURE  55 

we  were  reading  in  the  same  way :  they  were  under 
too  many  suggestions  that  a  story  was  something 
made  out  of  a  formula,  and  I  wanted  to  show  a 
story  to  this  particular  group  as  a  thing  of  wonder 
and  imagination.  Once  one  of  the  boys,  Richard 
N,  a  very  assured  boy  from  the  village,  brought 
in  quite  a  workmanlike  story  in  the  style  of  a 
weekly  journal  about  a  youth  who  "made  good" 
on  the  battlefield.  The  other  boys  in  the  class 
were  inclined  to  admire  this  story  because  of  the 
conventional  points  it  made  and  the  conventional 
finish  it  had.  I  took  it  as  an  example  of  a  lack  of 
imagination  in  story-telling  and  drew  attention 
to  the  imaginative  invention  in  narratives  we  were 
reading. 

This  fourth  group  made  the  best  students.  But 
the  third  group  was  the  best  for  imaginative  po- 
tentiality and  achievement.  The  dominant  ele- 
ment in  the  class,  both  in  numbers  and  personality, 
were  the  girls.  They  were  passing  into  the  ro- 
mantic stage.  They  began  by  declaring  roundly 
that  they  cared  nothing  for  poetry.  They  ended 
by  not  being  quite  so  defiant  about  it.  Only  one 
of  the  girls  in  this  group,  Susanne,  a  child  from 
Europe,  wrote  any  verse.  But  quite  good  and 
original  verse  was  written  by  a  boy  from  the  vil- 
lage, Wayne.  Some  of  the  girls  wrote  little  sto- 
ries. However,  it  was  not  either  in  writing  verse 
or  stories  that  this  group  became  creative — it  was 
through  dramatic  expression.  The  words  and 
characters  in  a  little  play  we  made  for  them  be- 
came very  much  their  own,  very  much  what 
I  wanted  our  stories  and  poetry  to  result  in — an 
accompaniment  for  their  own  imaginings. 


56  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

The  second  group  were  quite  definitely  children. 
It  was  composed  of  an  equal  number  of  boys  and 
girls,  and  several  of  them,  Lucienne,  Jackie, 
Joanne,  Bernice,  were  highly  intelligent.  They 
were  receptive,  and  one  of  my  aims  was  to  give 
them  an  interest  in  words  and  to  add  to  their 
vocabulary.  I  wanted  too  to  give  them  a  feeling 
for  versification  and  for  the  rhythm  of  verse. 

With  the  first  group  I  told  stories  and  taught 
them  certain  poems.  I  am  very  much  for  children 
memorizing  poems.  They  can  know  poetry  only 
by  possessing  it — that  is  by  having  in  their  minds 
various  verses  that  they  can  recall  and  repeat.  I 
wanted  particularly  to  make  these  little  children 
have  possession  of  certain  poems  by  Blake  and 
Stevenson  and  others — that  they  could  croon  over 
and  play  to.  I  got  these  children  to  act  some  spe- 
cial poems.  I  am  not  at  all  in  favor  of  children 
being  taught  poetry  by  acting  it.*  In  the  first 
place  it  is  often  putting  to  a  wrong  end  poetry  that 
should  leave  the  child  quiet  and  reflective.  Again, 
the  action,  the  pitch  of  the  voice  tends  to  formalize 
the  poem  in  their  minds,  taking  away  from  it  the 
free  movement  that  it  might  have  for  them, 
besides  associating  it  with  too  much  agitation. 
Nevertheless,  in  the  case  of  this  first  group,  I  had 
them  act  a  few  little  pieces ;  this  was  to  give  them 
the  sense  of  play,  and  also  as  in  the  re-telling 
of  stories,  to  give  them  some  faculty  of  expres- 
sion. 

I  was  particularly  desirous  to  bring  to  these  vil- 

*  It  is  interesting  to  note  here  the  differing  opinions  of  Mr. 
Merrill,  a  professional  teacher,  and  Mr.  Colum,  a  professional 
poet. 


LITERATURE  57 

lage  children  the  folk-romance  of  different  Euro- 
pean countries.  It  seemed  to  me  that  folk-tales, 
coming  as  they  do  out  of  the  childhood  of  a  race, 
have  very  real  connection  with  the  imaginative  life 
of  children.  I  wanted  this  romance  to  be  really 
of  the  folk.  For  that  reason  I  kept  the  children 
away  from  the  sophistication  of  the  folk-tale  that 
has  its  examples  in  "The  Blue  Bird"  of  Maeter- 
linck and  the  "Peter  and  Wendy"  of  Barrie.  Such 
books  and  a  quantity  of  other  books  that  have  a 
great  circulation  seem  to  me  to  appeal  to  a  sophis- 
ticated and  conscious  nature  that  has  been 
imposed  upon  children  by  well-intentioned  elders. 

And  yet  I  did  not  want  to  get  into  the  children 's 
minds  the  element  of  fantasy  only — I  wanted  to 
get  into  their  minds  that  imaginative  familiarity 
with  things  that  the  folk  tale  has  for  all  its  fantasy 
— the  intimacy  and  the  adventure  that  are  in  the 
things  of  the  household  and  the  neighborhood.  The 
children  of  this  New  England  village  were  without 
a  folk  tradition  of  their  own.  Nothing,  of  course, 
could  make  up  for  that  lack  in  their  imaginative 
outfit.  Still  I  knew  that  the  most  fruitful  appeal 
to  their  imaginations  could  be  made  through  the 
romance  that  has  appealed  to  the  childhood  and 
the  youth  of  other  countries  through  practically 
the  whole  of  their  civilization. 

From  the  beginning  it  was  my  intention  to  con- 
nect my  work  with  the  work  of  some  of  the  other 
teachers — with  Music  or  with  Modelling  or  Draw- 
ing. Mr.  Coluzzi  and  I  were  able  to  make  connec- 
tions. He,  in  his  modelling  and  drawing  lessons, 
dealt  with  types  belonging  to  the  folk-imagination 
and  he  was  also  working  towards  the  heroic  design 


58  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

of  certain  Greek  types.  We  were  able  to  join 
together  for  the  production  of  a  play  about  the 
return  of  Odysseus.  The  dialogue  and  the  inci- 
dents, the  costumes  and  the  decorations  were 
made  up  in  the  class-rooms.  Towards  the  end  of 
the  term  the  Art  and  Literature  classes  became 
practically  one  for  the  production  and  decoration 
of  the  play. 

ABSTRACT  OF  RECORDS  FOR  FIRST  WEEK 

There  were  four  teaching  days  in  this  week. 
While  reading  with  the  classes  on  first  day  I  made 
a  selection  of  books  that  I  could  use  in  connection 
with  the  aim  I  had  in  mind. 

For  Group  I :  Perrault  's  Stories,  Eobert  Louis 
Stevenson's  " Child's  Garden  of  Verses,"  "The 
Jatakas."  This  last  is  a  book  of  East  Indian 
Stories,  mainly  about  animals  and  all  written 
from  a  Buddhist  religious  standpoint.  I  used  this 
book  with  the  second  and  third  groups  also. 

For  Group  II:  "Granny's  Wonderful  Chair" 
by  Frances  Browne,"  "The  Christmas  Tales  of 
Flanders,"  "Just-So  Stories,"  Walter  de  la 
Mare 's  '  *  Peacock  Pie, ' '  and  anthologies  of  various 
kinds. 

For  Group  HE:  "The  Jungle  Book,"  Curtin's 
"Myths  and  Folk-lore  of  Ireland,"  and  "Hero 
Tales  of  Ireland,"  Walter  de  la  Mare's  "Lis- 
teners," Tennyson's  Poems,  also  "The  Christ- 
mas Tales  of  Flanders,"  "Just-So  Stories,"  and 
"Peacock  Pie." 

For  Group  IV:  "The  Adventures  of  Odysseus 
and  the  Tale  of  Troy,"  some  modern  stories,  New- 


LITERATURE  59 

bolt's  "Lyra  Heroica,"  Collections  of  American 
Poetry,  "The  Oxford  Book  of  English  Verse," 
Tennyson's  and  Shelley's  Poems. 

Group  I 

I  introduced  myself  to  this  Group  as  a  story- 
teller and  told  them  a  few  stories  that  I  knew.  I 
read  to  them  poems  that  had  such  rhythm  as 
children  could  associate  with  their  play  such  as 

Dark  brown  is  the  river, 
Golden  is  the  sand ; 
It  flows  along  for  ever, 
With  trees  on  either  hand. 

from  Stevenson's  "Child's  Garden  of  Verses."  I 
selected  a  story  from  "The  Jatakas"  that  would 
amuse  them.  It  was  "The  Monkey  and  the  Croco- 
dile," telling  how  the  Crocodile's  Mother  wanted 
Monkey's  heart  to  eat;  how  the  Crocodile  came 
near  catching  the  Monkey  three  times,  and  how 
the  Crocodile's  stupidity  was  beaten  by  the  Mon- 
key's cleverness.  I  gave  them  a  new  story  every 
day,  getting  the  children  to  re-tell  the  story  of 
the  previous  days. 

Group  II 

My  aim  in  the  first  lessons  was  to  give  the  chil- 
dren a  sense  of  rhythm  in  verse.  I  wanted  it  all 
to  be  rather  a  surprise  for  these  children,  so  to 
begin  with  I  selected  verses  that  would  have  an 


60  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

element  of  surprise  for  them.  They  were  Vaohel 
Lindsay's  "The  Lion." 

THE  LION 

The  Lion  is  a  kingly  beast, 
He  takes  a  Hindoo  for  a  feast, 
And  when  a  Hindoo  he  can't  get, 
The  Lion  family  is  upset. 

He  cuffs  his  wife  and  bites  her  ears 
Till  she  is  almost  moved  to  tears ; 
Then  some  explorer  finds  the  den, 
And  all  is  family  peace  again. 

The  children  were  surprised  and  amused  by  these 
verses  and  were  eager  to  repeat  them,  stumbling 
over  the  lines  and  picking  them  up  again.  I  used 
these  verses  to  establish  a  notion  of  an  eight-syl- 
lable verse  with  regular  beats.  Then  we  read 
verses  in  which  eight  syllables  and  six  alternated. 
The  measurement  of  the  lines  by  syllables  inter- 
ested them.  In  the  third  and  fourth  lessons  I  had 
them  making  rhymes  and  little  verses.  We  took 
Vachel  Lindsay's  "Haughty  Snail,"  in  which 
eight  and  six  syllables  alternated,  and  turned  it 
into  lines  of  eight  syllables.  The  children  were 
intensely  interested  in  finding  rhymes  and  were 
immensely  pleased  when  they  saw  a  verse  com- 
pleted. They  all  showed  an  appreciation  of  dif- 
ferences between  one  simple  rhythm  and  another 
and  they  were  able  to  detect  a  halting  or  an  incom- 
plete rhythm.  In  our  second  lesson  we  took  '  *  The 
Haughty  Snail"  and  turned  it  into  a  different  sort 
of  verse. 


LITERATURE  61 

THE  HAUGHTY  SNAIL-KING 

Twelve  snails  went  walking  after  night. 

They'd  creep  an  inch  or  so, 

Then  stop  and  bug  their  eyes 

And  blow. 

Some  folks  .  .  .  are  .  .  .  deadly  .  .  .  slow. 

Twelve  snails  went  walking  yestereve, 

Led  by  their  fat  old  king. 

They  were  so  dull  their  princeling  had 

No  sceptre,  robe  or  ring — 

Only  a  paper  cap  to  wear 

When  nightly  journeying. 

This  snail-king  said:  "I  feel  a  thought 
Within.  ...  It  blossoms  soon.  .  .  . 

0  little  courtiers  of  mine,  .  .  . 

1  crave  a  pretty  boon.  .  .  . 

Oh,  yes  .  .  .  (High  thoughts  with  effort  come 
And  well-bred  snails  are  ALMOST  dumb.) 
"I  wish  I  had  a  yellow  crown 
As  glistering  ...  as  ...  the  moon." 

This  is  what  the  combined  efforts  of  the  class 
turned  it  into  when  they  made  it  over  into  regular 
lines.  I  did  not  note  who  the  child  was  who  made 
the  good  line  "No  home,  but  just  a  lily  pad." 

THE  PROUD  SNAIL 

Twelve  snails  went  walking  after  night, 
The  moon  gave  every  one  a  fright; 
Then  they  would  stop  and  rub  their  eyes, 
And  each  one  looked  so  very  wise. 
They  were  so  dull,  their  princeling  had 
No  home,  but  just  a  lily  pad ; 
The  King-Snail  said  "I  want  a  boon — 
A  yellow  crown  just  like  the  moon." 

In  the  next  week  Lucienne  brought  in  a  verse  that 
was  reminiscent  of  our  interest  in  the  snail. 


62  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

THE  SNAIL 

I  am  a  snail ; 

Once  when  I  was  walking 

I  heard  children  playing ; 

There  was  a  bad  little  boy; 

He  had  a  stick  for  his  toy, 

And  this  bad  boy  carne  to  me 

And  plunged  the  stick  in  my  body, 

Into  my  shell — home  I  came 

While  the  children  played  a  game ; 

I  wait  and  wait  till  night, 

And  lo,  I  saw  now  a  sight, 

As  nurse  said  "Is  that  a  snail? 

And  you,  Tom,  take  your  track  and  your  rail." 

The  boy  said  "Nurse,  very  well." 

Then  I  curve  out  of  my  shell. 

After  that  I  was  so  hungry 

I  ate  all  the  leaves,  and  now  you  see 

That  is  the  end  of  my  story. 

The  spelling  and  punctuation  is  amended.  The 
curious  stresses  at  the  end  of  the  lines  are  prob- 
ably due  to  the  fact  that  Lucienne  is  a  French- 
speaker. 

Group  III 

I  began  by  telling  some  stories  to  this  Group. 
As  said  in  the  Introduction  the  preponderating 
element  in  this  class,  both  in  number  and  person- 
ality, were  the  girls.  The  girls  themselves  made 
two  groups — a  homogenous  group  of  village  girls, 
amongst  them  being  Elizabeth,  Harriet,  Dorothy, 
Ruth,  and  some  girls  from  New  York  of  foreign 
parentage — Susanne  and  Sylvia. 

The  fact  that  the  bulk  of  the  children  had  a 
neighbourhood  background  and  that  the  slower 


LITERATURE  63 

and  more  considering  minds  of  the  boys  were  met 
by  the  more  excited  and  more  quickly  responsive 
minds  of  the  girls  gave  a  great  impetus  to  this 
group.  The  children  from  the  neighbourhood  rep- 
resented the  pick  of  the  village  school. 

Taken  all  together  they  were  eager  about  Lit- 
erature, but  Literature  to  them  meant  stories, 
stories,  and  more  stories.  In  the  first  few  days  I 
read  with  them  stories  from  "The  Christmas 
Tales  of  Flanders " — quaint  and  amusing  tales.  I 
had  them  tell  stories  in  the  class.  The  girls  told 
them  very  well,  making  them  up  of  reminiscences 
of  stories  they  had  read.  I  found  that  their  minds 
were  occupied  with  very  simple,  very  remote  fairy- 
tales. I  wanted  very  much  to  bring  to  them  stories 
that  had  more  of  a  reality — stories  that  came  out 
of  a  more  profound  imagination.  I  did  not  try  to 
interest  this  class  in  poetry  the  first  week. 

Group  IV 

This  Group  was  made  up  of  boys.  The  three 
that  were  the  most  brilliant — Ivan,  Edward,  Billy 
• — were  from  homes  in  wrhich  the  interests  were 
intellectual.  The  discovery  that  I  wanted  this 
Group  to  make  was  the  discovery  of  heroic  ro- 
mance. We  read  poetry  in  the  form  of  ballads 
and  we  began  the  reading  of  "The  Adventures  of 
Odysseus  and  the  Tale  of  Troy."  Below  is  a 
stenographic  report  of  our  second  lesson. 

T.  Yesterday  we  said  we  would  read  the  story 
of  Odysseus.  Come  to  this  map  first.  Odysseus 
came  from  this  island.  .  .  .  He  had  to  go  to  Troy 
where  there  was  a  war.  He  went  in  his  ship  to 


64  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

Troy  and  fought  in  the  Trojan  war  and  with  the 
others  besieged  Troy  for  ten  years.  Then  he  came 
back  by  this  way.  .  .  .  But  he  was  blown  off  his 
course  and  after  many  adventures  he  came  back  to 
his  own  country.  That  is  the  story.  (Reads  open- 
ing chapter  describing  how  Odysseus  tried  to 
avoid  going  to  the  Trojan  war.) 

T.    Why  did  he  not  want  to  go  to  the  war? 

EICHABD  N.  He  would  get  killed  and  his  little 
boy  would  be  left  an  orphan. 

T.  Troy  was  a  very  powerful  City  and  he  knew 
that  the  war  would  have  to  be  a  long  war.  Just 
think  of  New  Hampshire  wanting  to  make  war  on 
a  great  city  like  New  York.  Everybody  would 
want  to  go,  for  in  those  days  they  plundered  a 
city  they  had  taken  and  they  would  get  lots  of 
things  to  bring  home — money,  dresses,  gold  and 
silver  things,  animals — all  sorts  of  material.  But 
you  would  know  that  New  York  would  be  hard  to 
take  and  you  would  think  that  perhaps  the  army 
would  be  defeated  and  destroyed.  Odysseus  was 
wise  enough  to  know  all  this.  He  tried  to  get  out 
of  going.  And  what  did  he  do? 

BILLY.    Pretended  to  be  mad. 

T.    In  what  way? 

BILLY.    Sowed  his  field  with  salt. 

T.    What  are  minstrels  ? 

IVAN.    They  are  singers. 

T.  They  are  more  than  singers.  In  the  old 
days  there  were  no  newspapers,  no  letters.  When 
a  man  went  away  to  war  you  might  hear  nothing 
from  him.  The  only  way  you  might  hear  was 
from  minstrels.  Instead  of  hearing  in  the  news- 
papers about  a  war,  after  a  while  singers,  perhaps 


LITERATURE  65 

some  of  them  from  the  very  battle  field,  would 
come  and  sing  songs  about  the  leaders  in  the  war. 
They  would  go  about  the  country  singing  these 
songs,  and  the  people  would  be  kind  to  them  and 
give  them  food  and  drink  and  shelter  for  weeks 
at  a  time.  And  they  would  invite  friends  to  listen 
to  the  songs.  And  now  we  read  that  the  minstrels 
had  begun  to  go  round  Greece  and  had  at  last 
come  to  Ithaka  where  Odysseus  had  lived.  Their 
songs  were  about  the  chiefs  who  went  to  Troy  and 
about  all  the  great  things  they  had  done  and 
about  how  such  a  chief  was  killed,  and  such  a  chief 
had  reached  home.  But  there  was  no  word  about 
Odysseus.  No  minstrel  knew  anything  about  him. 
There  was  no  word  of  his  death  or  about  his  being 
seen  anywhere.  And  so  ten  years  more  went  by. 
If  his  son  had  been  a  month  old  when  he  went 
away  what  age  would  he  be  now? 

IVAN.    He  would  be  twenty. 

T.    Yes.    Quite  a  young  man. 

T.  Spears  and  swords  were  what  they  fought 
with.  They  were  not  of  iron,  however.  They  were 
of  bronze. 

IVAN.    Is  bronze  a  good  weapon? 

T.  Not  compared  with  iron.  You  have  to  pour 
bronze  into  a  mould.  You  cannot  make  a  long 
weapon  of  it  because  it  would  break  off.  Then  you 
sharpen  it.  You  cannot  make  a  weapon  out  of 
iron  so  easily. 

EDWARD.    You  would  have  to  pound  iron. 

T.  Yes,  hammer  it  out.  But  iron  gives  you  the 
longer  weapon.  And  so  when  people  came  along 
with  weapons  of  iron  they  defeated  those  who 
used  bronze — iron  weapons  were  longer  and 


66  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

sharper.  The  people  in  the  times  that  Homer  was 
making  his  poetry  about  were  still  using  bronze 
weapons. 

T.  Let  us  go  into  this.  When  a  man  went  into 
a  house  in  ancient  Greece,  what  happened  ? 

NICHOLAS.     They  welcomed  him. 

IVAN.     He  washed  his  hands. 

T.    How  was  this  hand-washing  done  ? 

IVAN.  They  poured  water  over  his  hands  from 
a  ewer  and  then  he  would  dry  them  with  a  towel. 

T.    And  what  did  he  get  to  eat? 

IVAN.  They  gave  him  wonderful  bread,  with 
meat  and  wine. 

T.  * '  Clan-gathering"  is  mentioned  here.  What 
is  a  clan? 

BILLY.    A  family. 

EICHAED  N.    A  club. 

T.  A  family  rather.  All  your  relations — your 
brothers,  sisters,  uncles,  cousins — all  those  would 
be  a  clan.  Now  who  were  those  who  were  making 
such  a  disturbance  in  the  house? 

CARL.     Pretenders. 

T.    Well,  why  did  they  call  there? 

CARL.  They  wanted  Penelope  to  marry  one  of 
them. 

T.    What  should  they  be  called  then? 

CARL.     Pretenders. 

T.    Has  anyone  else  a  different  word  ? 

EDWARD.     Suitors. 

T.  Or  wooers.  What  sort  of  young  men  were 
they?  The  lords  of  the  Island.  And  why  did  they 
want  Penelope  to  marry  one  of  them  ? 

IVAN.  Because  they  thought  Odysseus  was 
dead. 


LITERATURE  67 

T.    But  why  Penelope  more  than  anyone  else. 

RICHARD  N.    Because  she  was  rich. 

T.  She  had  this  great  house  and  all  the  land 
that  Odysseus  owned.  And  I  suppose  they 
thought  that  whoever  married  her  would  become 
King  of  Ithaka  as  Odysseus  was.  Now  they  were 
trying  to  force  her  into  marriage — how? 

BILLY.  By  eating  up  the  food  and  destroying 
everything. 

T.  If  they  kept  on  coming  to  the  house  Pene- 
lope would  be  ruined.  All  she  had  would  be  wasted 
and  the  servants  would  be  worn  out.  Why  didn't 
some  one  interefere  to  send  them  away? 

CARL.  They  could  not  because  these  men  could 
have  killed  them. 

T.  They  were  all  powerful  men — princes  and 
lords — and  they  could  not  be  fired  out  easily. 
Penelope  had  no  friends.  And  Odysseus'  father 
was  very  old,  and  his  son  was  too  young  to  cope 
with  these  men. 

T.  Athene,  the  Goddess  came  to  the  house  of 
Odysseus  in  the  guise  of  a  man.  She  came  to  get 
Telemachus  to  do  something.  First  of  all  he  was 
to  have  a  Council  of  the  chief  men  of  the  Island. 
What  would  that  Council  be  like? 

BILLY.     The  Supreme  Court. 

T.  Isn't  there  a  Council  here  where  all  the 
men  come  together  to  arrange  for  taxation  and 
matters  of  that  sort? 

RICHARD  N.    A  Town  Meeting. 

T.  That's  more  like  it.  Telemachus  was  to 
have  a  sort  of  Town  Meeting  and  bring  up  his 
case  there.  And  if  they  did  not  make  the  suitors 
leave  the  house  he  was  to  call  on  two  of 


68  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

father's  friends,  Nestor  and  Menelaus.  What 
else  was  he  to  do? 

IVAN.  If  his  father  was  dead  he  was  to  raise 
a  great  monument  in  his  honor. 

T.  Yes,  and  if  he  had  news  that  his  father  was 
alive  he  was  to  prepare  for  his  return. 

This  ended  the  reading  of  Chapters  One  and 
Two  of  "The  Adventures  of  Odysseus  and  the 
Tale  of  Troy."  After  our  reading  I  tried  to  keep 
their  imaginations  active  by  a  discussion  about 
Homer — who  he  was,  what  times  he  lived  in,  the 
sort  of  life  he  probably  led,  and  so  on. 


ABSTRACT  OF  RECORDS  FOR  SECOND  WEEK 
Group  I 

This  week  we  had  a  great  deal  of  fun  in  the  class 
re-telling  stories  I  had  read  to  them  from  "The 
Jatakas."  The  story  of  how  the  Monkey  baffled 
the  Crocodile  was  asked  for  and  re-told  by  the 
children  several  times.  The  other  story  that 
pleased  them  was  "The  Foolish  Timid  Rabbit," — 
a  tale  of  how  the  Rabbit  thought  the  World  was 
breaking  up  because  a  cocoanut  fell  upon  him 
while  he  was  sleeping,  and  how  he  started  all  the 
Animals  running — and  they  might  be  running  still 
only  the  Lion  halted  them  while  he  investigated 
the  Rabbit's  story.  One  of  the  children,  Alvin,  has 
a  remarkably  good  memory  and  he  re-tells  the 
stories  quite  well.  The  verses  we  began  to  learn 
were  from  Stevenson's  "Child's  Garden  of 
Verses." 


LITERATURE  69 

Group  11 

It  was  not  easy  to  get  these  children  to  take  an 
interest  in  poems  that  are  in  books,  but  they  were 
quite  excited  about  making  up  verses  and  rhymes 
on  their  own  account.  Here,  from  a  stenographic 
report,  is  an  account  of  their  rhyme-making  for 
one  day  this  week. 

T.  How  many  of  you  have  made  up  rhymes  for 
me  I 

DOROTHY.    I  have. 

There  was  a  King 

Who  had  a  chariot, 
'And  also  a  daughter 

Whose  name  was  Harriet. 

T.    Quite  good.   Who  else  made  up  rhymes. 

RUTH.       There  was  a  little  girl 
Whose  name  was  Pearl. 
She  was  a  very  good  girl. 
She  likes  to  play 
Very  much 
But  sometimes 
Euns  away. 

Pearl  had  a  dolly 
Whose  name  was  Molly 
She  liked  to  play  with  Molly 
But  soon  got  tired. 

DOBOTHY.    I  have  another. 

If  you  give  me  a  small  little  piece  of  tin 
I  will  make  you  a  pretty  little  pin. 

T.    Well  now  will  you  count  the  syllables  in  the 
lines.    How  many  in  the  first  line! 


70  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

DOBOTHY.    Eleven. 
T.    How  many  in  the  second  line! 
DOBOTHY.     Ten. 

T.    Well,  we  must  change  it  so  that  there  will  be 
ten  syllables  in  the  first  line  and  ten  in  the  second. 

DOBOTHY.    If  you  give  me  a  pretty  piece  of  tin 
I  will  give  you  a  pretty  little  pin. 

T.    Who  else  has  made  up  rhymes  for  usf 

BEBNICE.  Buster  Brown 

Was  a  clown; 
Wore  his  gown 
Upside  down. 

T.    That  is  amusing.    Have  any  of  the  boys 
made  rhymes? 
HEBBEBT.    I  have. 
T.    Come  along  then  and  tell  them  to  us. 

HEBBEBT.         The  boy  said 

"Let's  go  to  bed:" 

Jack  said  "No, 

I'm  going  to  play  in  the  snow." 

T.    We  '11  have  to  work  over  all  that  and  get  it 
into  regular  syllables. 

HEBBEBT.    I  have  another. 

The  boy  skipped  school 

And  went  and  played  at  the  pool. 

T.    We'll  have  to  go  over  that  too. 
We    had   quite    ambitious   poems   written   by 
Lucienne.    I  give  them  below. 


LITERATURE  71 


THE  SPIDER  WHO  FORGOT  HER  FRIEND 

A  Spider  was  working  at  her  thread, 

And  she  was  going  to  make  a  web ; 

And  she  was  a  very  funny  thing 

Because  she  used  to  sing  "Spring,  Spring." 

Something  came  to  her:  it  was  a  fly; 
"I  beg  let  me  go  out,"  she  said. 
The  Spider  said  she  didn't  like  to  eat  rye, 
And  when  she  heard  that  she  fade. 

When  the  Spider  saw  her  still,  she  was  ready. 
"Tomorrow  a  feast  will  be  with  my  friend,  see." 
She  jump  on  the  Fly  and  ate  her  all  up  then. 
And  then  she  said  "Oh,  I  forgot  my  friend." 

THE  TOAD'S  WISH 

Once  a  very  big  Toad 
Was  sitting  on  a  road, 
Looking  at  the  blue  sky, 
So  she  said  "Oh,  I  wish 
I  could  be  an  Air-fish." 
But  the  poor  old  frog 
Could  fly  like  a  log. 

The  punctuation  is  the  teacher's.  Lucienne  ex- 
plained that  an  "Air-fish"  was  the  toad's  way  of 
thinking  about  a  bird.  The  class  readily  under- 
stood the  metaphor. 

The  story  we  read  was  "The  Christmas  Cuckoo" 
from  *  *  Granny 's  Wonderful  Chair. ' '  It  was  about 
two  cobblers,  Scrub  and  Spare.  They  found  a 
Cuckoo  in  a  Yule-log,  a  Cuckoo  that  had  stayed 
over  from  summer.  The  Cuckoo  promised  to  bring 
them  a  leaf  from  two  trees  at  the  World's  End — 
a  Green  Tree  and  a  Golden  Tree.  One  chose  a 


72  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

leaf  from  the  Green  Tree  and  one  chose  a  leaf 
from  the  Golden  Tree.  It  is  quite  a  beautiful 
story.  I  wanted  the  children  to  understand  the 
unusual  words  in  the  story  and  to  make  their  own 
use  of  them. 

T.  The  log  burned  with  a  ruddy  blaze.  What 
does  that  mean? 

JOANNE.     Strong. 

RUTH.    Eusty. 

T.    Ruddy  means  red — like  on  a  robin's  breast. 

BEBNICE.    I  never  heard  that  word. 

T.  You  must  write  it  down  on  your  tablets  and 
be  able  to  use  it  again.  There  were  two  trees  the 
story  says — a  green  tree  and  a  golden  tree.  Any- 
one who  had  a  leaf  from  the  green  tree  would  be 
blithe — you  know  what  blithe  means? 

CHILDREN.    Happy. 

T.  Spare  asked  for  a  leaf  from  the  green  tree 
and  Scrub  asked  for  a  leaf  from  the  golden  tree. 
That  shows  us  that  there  are  two  sorts  of  people — 
one  wants  to  be  happy  first  and  the  other  wants 
to  be  rich  first.  Now  here  is  a  sentence  that  is 
difficult.  The  Cuckoo  said  "Your  conclusions  are 
more  hasty  than  courteous. ' '  Let  us  see  what  that 
means. 

JACKIE.  That  one  leaf  was  as  good  as  the  other 
one. 

T.    Well  let  us  see.    What  is  hasty? 

JACKIE.     Quick. 

T.  And  conclusions? — if  you  are  thinking,  the 
end  of  what  you  are  thinking  is  a  conclusion. 
What  was  at  the  end  of  Scrub's  thought  was  a 
conclusion,  and  the  Cuckoo  said  it  was  more  hasty 


LITERATURE  73 

than  courteous.  I  think  " courteous"  is  a  new 
word  here.  It  means  polite.  What  was  at  the 
end  of  Scrub's  thought  was  not  polite — it  was 
hasty — wrong  because  too  quickly  reached.  Con- 
clusion is  a  word  we  will  have  to  use. 

For  a  few  minutes  the  class  made  up  sentences 
in  which  " conclusion"  and  "concluded"  were 
used. 

Group  HI 

My  aim  was  to  bring  out  the  inventiveness  that 
was  in  this  class.  My  method  was  to  take  it  for 
granted  that  all  in  the  class  could  write  stories  or 
verses.  Every  day  we  had  some  verse  or  story 
written  by  one  in  the  class  read  and  discussed. 
From  the  boys  I  got  nothing  in  the  first  weeks. 
Here  are  specimens  of  the  verse  and  stories  we 
had  read  in  the  second  week.  The  girls  from  the 
neighborhood  could  not  be  induced  to  make  up 
verses,  and  Suzanne,  the  sister  of  Lucienne  and 
Ivan,  a  child  from  Europe,  was  the  only  one  I 
could  rely  on  for  our  verse-contribution. 

THE  MOON:    SUZANNE 

How  beautiful  is  the  Moon! 

It  looks  like  a  silver  balloon, 

Or  a  fair  sparkling  jewel ; 

As  white  as  a  nacre  shell. 

It  has  a  beautiful  light 

That  shines  in  the  darkness  of  night : 

Sometimes  a  cloud  would  hide  her  face, 

Then  to  see  she  would  have  no  space. 

The  Moon,  the  Moon— 

I  love  the  Moon! 


74  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 


OPENING  OF  A  STORY:    RUTH 

Once  upon  a  time  there  was  an  old  lady,  she  seemed 
to  be  very  young  but  she  wasn't.  She  lived  on  the 
street  called  School  Street  because  it  was  the  Street 
the  School  was  on. 

There  were  four  little  girls  whom  this  lady  liked 
very  much  and  every  time  they  went  to  School  she 
would  always  have  something  for  each  one  of  them. 
Their  names  were  Martha,  Julia,  Sarah  and  Caroline. 

One  day  when  they  went  by  the  lady  opened  her 
window  and  threw  a  little  envelope  with  their  names 
printed  on  each  with  gold  out  to  them.  They  all  said 
"Thank  you,"  and  then  opened  it  and  read  "I  invite 
you  to  my  birthday  party  this  afternoon  at  two  o'clock 
please  come,  and  we  will  try  to  have  a  good  time." 

The  children  could  hardly  wait  for  the  time  to  come 
for  them  to  go,  because  they  had  never  been  in  the 
Lady's  house  and  they  knew  it  would  be  very  beauti- 
ful there.  When  they  went  in  the  room  was  all  lighted 
by  very  pretty  lamps.  .  .  . 

(The  description  of  the  room  and  of  the  gifts  that 
the  lady  gave  to  the  children  was  quite  charming, 
but  the  writer  lost  the  second  page  of  her  manu- 
script as  she  was  leaving  the  class  room.) 


Group  IV 

This  week  we  began  to  study  the  simple  forms 
of  poetry.  Obviously  the  narrative  poem  would 
be  the  most  interesting  to  begin  with.  The  narra- 
tive poem  I  had  in  mind  was  Matthew  Arnold's 
"Sohrab  and  Rustum."  But  there  was  a  danger 
that  the  blank  verse  of  this  narrative  would  seem 
to  the  class  too  much  like  prose.  It  was  necessary 
I  thought  to  establish  a  form  of  rhymed  verse  in 
their  minds.  So  we  took  Walter  Scott's  ballad 


LITERATURE  75 

"The  Outlaw*'  for  a  beginning — "Oh  Brignall's 
Banks  are  wild  and  fair." 

It  was  easy  to  interest  this  class  in  verse-tech- 
nique when  measurement  by  syllables  was  ex- 
plained to  them  and  when  the  lines  were  repeated 
in  a  way  to  mark  the  rhythm.  I  wrote  on  the  black- 
board the  first  three  lines  of  the  first  stanza.  I  got 
the  class  to  supply  a  new  fourth  line.  I  then  wrote 
the  first  two  lines  of  the  other  stanzas  getting  the 
class  to  supply  the  other  lines,  keeping  the  rhythm 
and  supplying  the  rhymes.  They  were  not  inge- 
nious in  supplying  rhymes.  Richard  N.,  however, 
made  an  imaginative  line  in  completing  one  of  the 
stanzas. 

The  rhythm  of  verse  now  being  differentiated 
from  prose  for  them  we  went  on  to  the  blank  verse 
narrative  of  "Sohrab  and  Rustum."  Ivan,  Ed- 
ward and  Billy  were  very  impressed  by  the  fine 
blank  verse  lines, 

ABSTRACT  OF  THIRD  WEEK'S  RECORDS 
Group  I 

This  week  we  began  the  reciting  and  acting  of  a 
poem-game,  Vachel  Lindsay's  "A  Dirge  for  the 
Righteous  Kitten. ' '  It  goes : — 

Ding-dong,  ding-dong,  ding-dong. 

Here  lies  a  kitten  good,  who  kept 

A  kitten's  proper  place. 

He  stole  no  pantry  eatables, 

Nor  scratched  the  baby's  face. 

HE  LET  THE  ALLEY  CATS  ALONE. 

He  had  no  yowling  vice. 


76  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

His  shirt  was  always  laundried  well, 

He  freed  the  house  of  mice. 

Until  his  death  he  had  not  caused 

His  little  mistress  tears, 

He  wore  his  ribbon  prettily, 

HE  WASHED  BEHIND  HIS  EARS. 

Ding-dong,  ding-dong,  ding-dong. 

The  children  delighted  to  act  out  his  poem,  chang- 
ing the  pitch  of  their  voices  for  the  lines  in  capi- 
tals and  ringing  an  imaginary  bell  the  while.  They 
gave  a  public  performance  of  it  at  Morning  Exer- 
cises with  great  success.  We  read  more  of  the 
stories  from  "The  Jatakas."  Each  day  I  had  the 
children  re-tell  the  stories  of  the  previous  days. 

Group  II 

My  aim  was  to  keep  this  class  inventive,  to  give 
them  a  sense  of  the  value  of  words  and  to  extend 
their  vocabulary.  The  Group  was  made  up  of 
boys  and  girls,  neither  preponderating  very  much ; 
the  girls,  however,  had  more  inventiveness  than 
the  boys.  This  week  we  continued  our  reading  of 
"The  Christmas  Cuckoo.'*  Following  is  from  a 
stenographic  report  of  a  specimen  lesson. 

T.  Who  has  written  a  verse  or  a  story  for 
today? 

LUCIENNB.    I  have. 
T.    Read  it,  Lucienne. 
LUCEBNNE.     (Reads.) 


LITERATURE  77 


THE  CITY  AND  THE  COUNTRY 

Oh,  yes,  little  girl,  you  can  see 
Down  in  the  forest  is  a  big  tree, 
And  down  the  meadow  o  'er  the  grass 
You  see  all  the  people  that  pass : 
That  is  the  way  of  the  Country. 

You  see  the  people  pass  the  hall, 
Preparing  themselves  for  a  ball ; 
It  is  going  to  be  on  Tuesday, 
Where  other  children  go  to  the  play : 
That  is  the  way  of  the  City. 


T.    Has  anyone  else  any  verses? 
IOTHY.    I  have  a  little  rhyme. 

T  .t±4-    TIO    Vinar*   T'f      ~n/-kY»rvfViTT 


DOROTHY,    j.  nave  a  uttie  nr 
T.    Let  us  hear  it,  Dorothy. 

DOBOTHY.  There  was  once  a  little  girl 
Whose  name  was  Meryl, 
And  what  do  you  suppose 
That  Meryl  did  one  day? 
She  hit  a  little  girl 
Named  Pearl. 

T.  All  right,  Dorothy.  Now  if  no  one  else  has 
any  verses  or  stories  we  '11  go  on  with  our  reading. 
The  story  was  "The  Christmas  Cuckoo, "  wasn't 
it?  Who  can  tell  me  what  it  was  about? 

BERNICE,  It  was  about  Spare  and  Scrub. 
Spare  was  the  man  who  got  the  gold,  but  he  was 
not  contented.  He  came  to  the  King's  Palace 
where  his  brother  was  and  on  his  way  he  met  an 
old  witch. 

T.  That's  the  part  we  read  last  time.  Now 
what  does  this  mean?  "The  old  woman  could 


78  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

scarcely  be  persuaded  to  sit  down  for  pure 
humility. ' '  What  do  you  think  humility  means  ? 

JOANNE.     I  don't  know. 

T.  Does  anyone  know  what  it  means  to  be 
humble  ? 

JOANNE.  I  do.  Kind  of  scrunched  up.  You 
talk  humbly.  Meek. 

T.  If  you  felt  that  you  weren't  as  grand  as  the 
person  you  were  speaking  to,  then  you  would  be 
humble.  You  might  speak  in  a  very  low  tone  of 
voice  and  say  "Madam"  or  "Sir."  Well  then 
humility  means  feeling  humble.  She  seemed  to  be 
a  poor  old  woman  and  she  seemed  to  think  that 
Spare  and  his  wife  were  very  grand  people.  She 
gave  them  a  drink.  What  is  it  called? 

JOANNE.     Mead. 

JACKIE.    What  is  mead  made  out  of? 

T.  Fermented  honey.  It  must  be  a  very  sweet 
drink.  But  this  old  woman  made  it  magical  too. 

BERNICE.  She  put  in  herbs  and  made  spells 
over  it. 

T.  They  speak  of  pheasants'  eggs.  Do  you 
have  pheasants  in  this  part  of  the  country?  Who 
has  seen  pheasants? 

JOANNE.  I  have  seen  a  lot  of  tiny  little  pheas- 
ants. 

T.  A  pheasant  is  about  the  size  of  a  young 
chicken,  isn't  it? 

JOANNE.     Oh,  no.    A  little  bit  smaller. 

T.    I  don't  think  it's  smaller. 

JOANNE.    I  mean  the  little  baby  ones. 

We  concluded  our  reading  of  the  story  at  this 
lesson,  discussing  such  unfamiliar  words  as 
"Chronicles,"  " Precedent. " 


LITERATURE  79 

Group  111 

My  aim  was  to  keep  this  class,  which  I  thought 
more  imaginative  and  spontaneous  than  the  other 
classes,  inventive ;  I  wanted,  too,  to  bring  to  these 
children  stories  and  poems  that  had  a  deeper 
imagination  than  the  stories  and  poems  they  had 
been  reading. 

The  books  we  read  from  this  week  were  Kip- 
ling's " Jungle  Book,"  Walter  de  la  Mare's 
"Peacock  Pie,"  Curtin's  "Hero  Tales  of  Ire- 
land," "The  Jatakas."  I  had  the  class  read 
poems  written  by  a  child  that  had  appeared  in  the 
July  number  of  "Poetry,"  and  we  read  and  dis- 
cussed stories  written  by  the  children  themselves 
and  a  story  that  I  was  writing.  This  week  the  boys 
were  productive:  Wayne  brought  in  a  verse  and 
Dane  a  story. 

Did  real  imaginative  poetry  appeal  to  this  class? 
I  read  "The  Little  Green  Orchard"  and  "Finis" 
from  ' '  Peacock  Pie ' '  to  try  to  find  out  what  appeal 
it  made.  I  told  them  first  that  the  music  of  the 
poems  had  to  be  listened  to  very  carefully.  After 
having  read  them  I  discussed  these  poems  with  the 
class.  Elizabeth,  one  of  the  all-round  intelligent 
children  in  the  school,  said  the  poem  was 
"ghostie,"  showing  that  she  got  a  sense  of  some- 
thing haunted  that  is  in  this  poem.  The  others 
agreed  that  it  has  this  "ghostie"  feeling.  Eliza- 
beth also  thought  that  the  ghost  was  somewhere 
around.  I  think  that  this  attempt  to  arouse  their 
imagination  by  unusual  moods  and  unusual  music 
in  poetry  had  some  success — the  class  was  prob- 
ably more  impressed  by  this  poetry  than  they 


80  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

could  put  into  words.  The  girls,  however,  demand 
poetry  that  has  a  story — they  overbalance  the 
boys  so  much  that  it  is  hard  to  get  any  of  the  boys' 
special  point  of  view. 

Wayne  and  Suzanne  wrote  verses.  I  was  very 
glad  to  see  that  Wayne  was  working  on  something 
that  was  out  of  a  boy's  experience.  His  poem  is 
below. 

THE  CIRCUS 

I  saw  a  Circus  bright  and  gay, 

And  saw  some  maidens  dance  and  dance 

Above  my  head,  Oh,  far  above, 

In  costumes  of  red  and  grey; 

And  I  saw  too  some  funny  clowns 

Who  were  dancing  up  and  down, 

Upon  their  head, 

Upon  their  feet. 

The  class  liked  these  verses;  discussed  them  and 
made  suggestions  about  improving  different  lines. 
Suzanne  wrote  some  pretty  lines. 

A  very  silly  ass 
Was  eating  some  green  grass, 
When  Mab,  the  Fairy  Queen 
Was  making  gowns  of  green. 

The  stories  we  read  were  selected  with  the  idea 
of  bringing  the  children  away  from  what  was 
merely  fanciful  and  letting  them  feel  the  realities 
that  underlie  the  really  imaginative  fables.  I  read 
also  some  chapters  from  a  story  I  was  writing  and 
had  the  class  criticise  it  and  make  suggestions  for 
its  development.  The  story  contributed  by  the 
class  this  week  was  by  Dane.  It  is  called 


LITERATURE 


Once  upon  a  time  there  was  a  man  who  had  five  chil- 
dren and  a  wife.  The  man's  name  was  John  Benjamin, 
and  his  children's  names  were  Horatio,  Augustus, 
Eomulus,  Theora  and  Elizabeth.  One  day  he  worked 
very  hard  and  got  very  tired. 

He  went  to  bed  early  that  night  and  he  dreamed 
that  he  was  King  of  the  Gods  and  that  his  wife  was 
Queen  of  the  Gods.  Horatio  was  the  God  of  the  Day, 
Augustus  was  the  God  of  Life  and  Romulus  was  the 
God  of  Death  and  Hate.  Elizabeth  was  the  Goddess 
of  Night  and  Theora  was  the  Goddess  of  Love.  It  so 
happened  that  Romulus  hated  Augustus  and  John 
Benjamin  dreamed  that  one  day  Romulus  was  walking 
along  and  met  two  men,  and  he  told  one  that  the  other 
was  a  bad  man  and  a  murderer.  He  set  the  two  to 
fighting  and  Augustus  came  along  and  stopped  the 
fight  because  they  were  almost  dead,  both  of  them. 
Augustus  took  them  home  and  bandaged  their  wounds 
and  the  men  set  out  again. 

Another  time  Romulus  came  along  to  a  tifuel  God 
like  himself  and  a  nice  God  talking  to  each  other.  On 
the  nice  God 's  face  there  was  a  mark  which  was  bleed- 
ing. He  asked  the  cruel  God  his  story,  and  the  cruel 
God  said  "I  met  this  man  fighting  with  a  Lion  and  I 
made  the  Lion  go  away,  fhat  is  why  he  has  a  scar  oh 
his  face."  "Good  Boy,"  said  Romulus.  "May  I  tell 
my  story?"  asked  the  nice  God. 

"Yes,"  said  Romulus. 

"That  man's  story  is  not  right,"  said  our  nice  God. 

"Another  word  and  off  with  your  head,"  said  the 
cruel  God. 

"Let  him  tell  his  story  and  then  we  will  see  what 
to  do?"  said  Romulus. 

"I  was  walking  along  and  I  stubbed  my  toe  on  a 
stick,  and  I  picked  it  up  and  I  threw  it  into  the  bushes, 
and  out  from  the  bushes  this  man  came.  He  threw  me 
on  the  grass  and  began  beating  me  with  all  his  might. 
That  is  why  I  have  this  mark  on  my  fade." 


82  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

"Oh,  you  should  be  stoned  and  hung  for  throwing 
the  stick  at  this  man, ' '  said  Romulus. 

The  nice  God  begged  for  mercy,  but  in  vain. 

They  stoned  him  and  then  tied  a  rope  round  his  neck 
and  put  him  on  the  tree. 

It  happened  that  Theora,  the  Goddess  of  Love,  had 
seen  the  whole  thing,  and  she  came  out  and  said 
"Romulus  and  Julius,  you  have  done  a  cruel  thing. 
Julius,  it  was  your  fault,  and  you  know  that  you  hurt 
Remus  and  that  the  Lion  didn't.  But  Julius,  God  of 
Cruelty,  you  will  repent  this." 

Theora  made  the  two  sick  for  a  year,  and  when  they 
were  well  again  they  were  called  Romulus,  the  God  of 
Health,  and  Julius,  the  God  of  Kindness  because  they 
had  been  reformed  during  their  sickness. 

John  Benjamin  woke  up  and  said  he  had  a  pleasant 
dream.  When  he  told  Romulus  the  story  Romulus  was 
always  a  good  boy  ever  after. 

Group  IV 

We  had  read  Matthew  Arnold's  "Sohrab  and 
Kustum,"  and  the  class  had  been  greatly  im- 
pressed by  the  story — by  the  nobility  of  spirit  in  it 
and  by  the  great  dignity  of  the  verse.  As  an 
example  of  another  type  of  heroic  narrative  we 
read  passages  from  William  Morris's  version  of 
The  Volsunga  Saga.  The  boys  thought  that  this 
story  was  not  well  told  and  they  were  of  the  opin- 
ion that  the  rhyming  lines  held  back  the  narrative. 

The  question  this  week  was  whether  a  story 
could  be  told  in  rhymed  verse  as  well  as  in  blank 
verse.  I  picked  out  a  narrative  in  rhymed  verse 
that  went  rapidly — Kipling's  ballad  " East  is  East 
and  West  is  West."  Billy,  Ivan  and  Edward 
thought  that  rhymed  verse  could  be  used  as  effec- 
tively in  telling  a  story  as  blank  verse.  It  depends 


LITERATURE  83 

on  who  uses  it,  Edward  said.  Billy  thought  that 
the  length  of  the  line  in  Kipling's  ballad  made  it 
difficult  to  handle.  I  got  the  boys  to  see  how  Kip- 
ling's long  ballad  line  was  really  made  up  of  two 
short  lines.  My  aim  was  to  keep  them  excited 
about  poetry  and  to  show  them  that  the  adven- 
turous feeling  of  boyhood  could  be  expressed  in 
it;  also  I  wanted  to  keep  them  excited  about  the 
words,  the  rhythms  and  the  music  of  verse.  Be- 
sides blank  verse  and  regularly  rhyming  verse  I 
showed  them  an  irregularly  rhyming  narrative 
poem  in  "The  Siege  of  Corinth." 

Richard  N.,  our  very  practical,  go-ahead  village 
boy,  was  greatly  impressed  by  the  end  of  "The 
Siege  of  Corinth."  The  others  preferred  the  old 
ballad  we  had  read,  "Sir  Patrick  Spens." 

Richard  N.  brought  in  a  short  story.  It  was 
quite  unimaginative.  But  because  it  had  an  im- 
probable incident — a  soldier  jumping  on  a  German 
General's  horse  and  riding  across  to  the  American 
trenches — one  of  the  class  criticised  it  as  being 
too  imaginative.  I  wanted  the  class  to  realize 
what  imaginativeness  in  a  story  meant.  I  told 
them  that  imaginativeness  had  nothing  to  do  with 
improbabilities.  I  instanced  Penelope's  device  in 
the  Homeric  story  we  were  reading — the  weaving 
of  the  web  and  the  unravelling  of  it — as  imagina- 
tive. I  tried  to  make  them  see  that' what  is  imag- 
inative should  surprise  and  delight  us. 

We  worked  into  the  story  of  the  Iliad,  and  the 
class  became  more  and  mpre  impressed  with  the 
Homeric  story.  They  considered  and  discussed 
the  pride  of  Achilles  and  the  cleverness  of  Odys- 
seus. The  passages  that  were  most  emotional 


84  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

were  always  the  ones  most  appreciated   by   the 
class. 

From  a  stenographic  report  I  make  some  selec- 
tions from  specimen  lesson  of  this  week. 

Stenographic  Record  of  Group  IV 

T.  The  last  chapter  we  read  in  this  Homeric 
story — what  was  it  about ! 

EDWABD.  About  the  quarrel  between  Agamem- 
non and  Achilles. 

T.  They  come  to  his  tent  and  they  find  Achilles 
playing  on  the  lyre.  Is  that  intended  to  show  us. 
anything! 

BILLY.  It  shows  he  was  idle.  He  hadn't  been 
in  the  battle  for  days. 

T.  Now  let  us  note  this  passage.  The  rest  had 
tried  to  persuade  Achilles  to  go  back  into  the 
battle  and  they  had  failed.  Then  the  old  man  who 
had  fostered  him  goes  to  Achilles.  He  doesn  't  try 
to  bribe  him.  He  doesn't  tell  him  what  they  will 
give  him  if  he  goes  into  the  war.  He  says  "I  loved 
you  always.  When  you  were  a  little  boy  I  did 
everything  to  help  you  to  become  strong.  I  want 
you  now  to  help  us.  If  you  want  to  accept  the 
gifts,  all  right.  But  if  you  go  into  battle  without 
these  gifts,  then  your  place  will  be  above  all  the 
heroes."  What  do  you  think  of  this  passage! 

BILLY.    I  like  it. 

T.    What  do  you  think  of  it,  Ivan! 

IVAN.    I  think  it  is  very  fine. 

T.  It  is  very  noble.  And  what  do  you  think 
of  the  character  of  Achilles! 

EDWARD.    He  is  very  proud. 

T.    He  is  the  proudest  man  in  all  literature. 


LITERATURE  85 

And  now  comes  the  description  of  Hector 's  army 
encamped  on  the  plain  over  against  Agamemnon's 
army.  This  is  a  great  passage  in  verse.  Tenny- 
son has  made  a  translation  of  Homer's  verse  that 
gives  us  some  idea  of  its  grandeur.  The  next  les- 
son we  will  read  that  passage — it  describes  Hec- 
tor's thousand  watchfires,  and  the  men  and  the 
horses  waiting  eagerly  beside  them. 

T.  Now  for  our  poetry.  We  are  going  to  read 
"The  Siege  of  Corinth,"  You  remember  one  of 
our  purposes  in  reading  it! 

IVAN.  To  see  the  difference  between  blank 
verse  and  rhymed  verse. 

T.  And  also  to  see  the  difference  between  this 
sort  of  rhymed  verse  and  other  sorts  of  rhymed 
verse  we  have  been  reading.  The  ballad,  for  in- 
stance. The  ballad  that  we  read  has  lines  of  six 
and  eight  syllables.  It  has  a  jog-trot  sort  of 
rhythm — something  like  a  jig.  It  might  sound 
common.  But  it  is  proper  for  subjects  that  don't 
go  very  high.  For  instance  the  Sohrab  and  Rus- 
tum  story  would  not  have  so  much  dignity  if  it 
were  written  to  ballad  rhythm.  Now  for  "The 
Siege  of  Corinth."  The  lines  have  generally  six 
syllables.  It  is  a  shorter  line  and  it  can  move 
much  more  swiftly  than  the  ballad  can.  Just  notice 
how  suitable  these  swift  lines  are  in  telling  this 
story  that  is  so  intense  and  that  ends  with  an 
explosion.  The  poet  could  not  have  chosen  a  bet- 
ter sort  of  verse.  What  do  you  think,  Edward? 

EDWARD.     I  like  the  way  the  lines  carry  you  on. 

IVAN.  He  doesn't  tell  how  many  were  killed  by 
the  explosion* 

T.    That  is  the  most  wonderful  thing  about  the 


86  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

description.  It  doesn't  tell  you  how  many  people 
were  killed.  But  it  leaves  an  awful  impression.  It 
tells  you  what  the  eagle  in  the  air  did.  It  tells  you 
that  the  steer  forsook  his  yoke  and  how  the  water 
was  dashed  from  the  shore.  All  that  shows  you 
how  widespread  the  destruction  was — it  tells  you 
better  than  a  list  of  casualties  could.  He  says  too 
that  the  jackals  cried.  Perhaps  the  poet  is  mis- 
taken in  this.  I  don't  think  there  are  jackals  near 
the  Mediterranean.  Notice  the  description  of  the 
jackals.  You  could  use  it  for  a  description  of 
coyotes  on  the  prairie.  Do  you  think  you  could? 
BILLY.  Yes,  I  think  you  could. 

("  Sir  Patrick  Spens.") 

T.  Ballads  of  this  type  were  made  up  in  Scot- 
land and  the  North  of  England — Northumberland. 
They  were  sung  or  chanted  at  first.  People  did 
not  read  then,  you  know.  And  the  people  who  had 
the  ballads  would  come  to  the  Castles  and  sing  or 
chant  these  poems.  That  reminds  you,  doesn't  it, 
of  the  way  the  minstrels  came  into  the  houses  in 
Homer. 

KENNETH.    Yes. 

T.  "An  eldern  man."  What  do  you  think  an 
eldern  man  would  be  ? 

EICHABD  N.    An  old  man. 

T.  The  word,  I  think,  is  used  in  a  more  imagi- 
native way  than  that — a  man  old  as  compared  with 
the  others.  Sir  Patrick  Spens  went  off  on  a  voy- 
age that  he  thought  was  very  dangerous.  Why 
was  it  dangerous  to  go  from  Scotland  to  Norway? 

BILLY.  Because  they  had  only  little  bits  of 
boats. 


LITERATURE  87 

T.  They  had  to  stay  a  long  time  in  Norway 
then.  And  what  did  the  Norwegians  say  about 
them! 

CARL.     That  they  were  living  on  them. 

T.    Doesn't  that  remind  you  of  another  story  T 

IVAN.  Yes.  They  were  like  the  suitors  in 
Penelope's  home. 

T.  Well,  and  what  did  Sir  Patrick  Spens  say 
to  that? 

RICHARD  N.  He  said  that  they  had  brought 
their  food  with  them. 

T.  No,  not  exactly.  He  said  they  had  brought 
the  white  money.  What  sort  of  money  is  that? 

IVAN.     Silver  money. 

T.  White  money  looks  very  well  in  verse, 
doesn't  it?  And  here's  a  word — "gurly" — what 
does  it  mean? 

EDWARD.     Bumpy. 

T.  Yes — rough.  It 's  a  very  good  word,  isn  't  it. 
Lots  of  these  words  are  very  fine — "Skeely  skip- 
per"—isn't  that  very  good  for  a  skilful  captain? 
' ' Braid  letter" — doesn't  it  give  you  an  idea  of  the 
sort  of  a  letter  it  was — something  written  out  on 
a  very  broad  sheet  of  parchment. 

BILLY.  It's  funny  that  when  they  can't  find 
another  word  they  just  repeat  a  word — A  league, 
a  league,  a  league, 

(They  hadna  gone  a  league,  a  league, 
A  league  but  barely  three) 

T.  I  like  that.  Don't  you  think  it  would  sound 
very  flat  if  the  poem  said  "We  had  only  sailed 
three  leagues?" 


88  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

IVAN.    I  think  it  would  sound  uninteresting. 
T.    And  now  I'll  tell  you  what  I  think  are  the 
best  lines  in  the  ballad.    They  are 

0  laith,  laith  were  our  good  Scotch  lairds 
To  weet  their  milk-white  hands ; 
But  long  ere  a'  the  play  was  ower 
They  wat  their  gowden  bands. 

T.  Now  tell  me  how  many  of  you  liked  the 
verse  we  read? 

BILLY.     I  liked  Kipling  and  I  liked  Spens. 

T.  Do  you  think  the  ballad  of  "Sir  Patrick 
Spens"  better  than  "The  Siege  of  Corinth"? 

IVAN.     I  do. 

T.    And  you,  Edward.    Which  do  you  like  best? 

EDWARD.     I  like  "Sir  Patrick  Spens"  better. 

EICHARD  N.  I  like  * '  The  Siege  of  Corinth ' '  bet- 
ter. 

KENNETH.    I  don 't  like  either.    I  like  Homer. 


ABSTRACT  OF  RECORDS  FOR  FOURTH  WEEK 
Group  I 

With  this  group  my  aim  was  a  simple  one:  it 
was,  first,  to  have  them  learn  some  poems  by  heart 
so  that  they  would  always  have  them  as  an  uncon- 
scious possession;  to  bring  such  stories  to  them 
as  have  a  real  imaginative  quality,  and  then  to 
help  them  towards  a  readiness  of  expression.  A 
recital  of  the  stories  they  had  read  on  previous 
days  was  a  help  towards  this  readiness  of  expres- 
sion. So  was  the  poem-game  "The  Dirge  for  the 
Righteous  Kitten."  I  gave  them  two  types  of 


LITERATURE  89 

poems  this  week — Stevenson's  "Foreign  Chil- 
dren" which  they  could  croon  over,  and  Walter 
de  la  Mare's  "The  Horseman"  which  I  recited 
to  them  for  its  strangeness  and  for  its  picture. 
The  class  got  to  learn  this  poem. 


I  heard  a  horseman 
Ride  over  a  hill; 
The  moon  shone  clear, 
The  night  was  still; 
His  helm  was  silver, 
And  pale  was  he ; 
And  the  horse  he  rode 
Was  of  ivory. 

Group  II 

My  aim  was  to  keep  this  Group  inventive  by 
having  them  make  up  and  tell  stories,  and  by  hav- 
ing them  make  verses  arid  rhymes.  I  wanted  to 
add  to  their  vocabulary  too,  and  I  was  very 
anxious  to  create  in  them  an  appreciation  for 
poetry. 

To  add  to  their  vocabulary  was  the  simplest 
part  of  the  programme.  All  the  children  were 
eager  and  attentive  in  our  discussion  about  words. 
Joanne,  Ruth,  Jackie,  Bernice  were  able  to  take 
easy  possession  of  new  words.  In  one  lesson  I 
have  noted  a  discussion  about  such  words  aa 
"clamours,"  "disposition,"  "covetous,"  "de- 
bate." "Immemorial"  proved  a  difficult  word. 
Porothy  said  she  knew  of  a  "memorial  service" 
for  the  men  who  were  in  the  war.  The  class  dis- 
covered "memorial"  was  something  that  was  kept 


90  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

in  mind,  "immemorial"  that  could  not  be  kept  in 
mind.  Then  there  was  the  word  "affliction."  It 
was  confused  with  "reflection"  in  the  minds  of  the 
children.  Delmar  said  it  was  the  same  as  going 
to  a  river  and  seeing  yourself  in  it,  but  Joanne 
whose  fine  sense  about  words  caused  her  to  be 
misled  by  the  particle  thought  it  meant  going  to  a 
river  and  not  seeing  yourself  in  it.  This  child  has 
a  curiosity  about  words  and  an  understanding  of 
their  import.  In  reading  a  poem  of  Walter  de  la 
Mare's  we  came  across  the  word  "gumption" — "a 
wonderful  gumption  was  under  his  skin."  Dorothy 
had  used  the  word  but  she  could  not  explain  what 
it  meant.  Joanne  knew  and  she  told  us  it  meant 
sense.  Euth — not  a  very  intelligent  child — was 
able  to  give  a  good  equivalent  for  "Steward" — 
the  Steward  of  the  Lord's  Castle  in  the  story  we 
were  reading — she  said  a  steward  was  the  same  as 
the  vice-president  of  a  committee. 

Different  children  in  the  class  told  parts  of  the 
stories  we  had  been  reading  on  previous  days.  All 
the  children  were  very  ready  in  story-telling  and 
quite  fluent.  Lucienne  wrote  a  story  that  she  read 
to  us.  The  class  were  appreciative  of  the  inven- 
tion in  the  stories  we  were  reading:  for  instance, 
the  idea  of  an  old  woman  weaving  her  own  hair 
into  a  garment  (in  "The  Lords  of  the  White  and 
the  Grey  Castles"  from  "Granny's  Wonderful 
Chair")  interested  them  greatly. 

In  poetry  they  liked  verse  that  was  amusing  or 
that  described  interesting  things.  Verse  that  was 
purely  imaginative  they  were  merely  content  to 
listen  to.  This  week  we  took  most  of  our  poetry 
from  Walter  de  la  Mare's  "Peacock  Pie."  The 


LITERATURE  91 

children  liked  the  imaginative  poem  ' '  King  David 
was  a  Sorrowful  Man"  for  the  music.  The  poem 
"Off  the  Ground"  with  the  amusing  jig  to  its 
lines  was  greatly  liked. 

Three  jolly  farmers 
Once  bet  a  pound 
Each  dance  the  others  would 
Off  the  ground. 

Another  poem  of  Walter  de  la  Mare's  that  was 
greatly  liked  this  week  was  *  *  Berries. ' '  It  begins : 

There  was  an  old  woman 
Went  blackberry  picking 
Along  the  hedges 
From  Weep  to  Wicking. 

Half  a  pottle- 
No  more  she  got, 
When  out  steps  a  Fairy 
From  her  green  grot. 

I  asked  the  class  to  tell  me  why  they  liked  so  much 
this  particular  poem.  Dorothy  said  it  was  be- 
cause there  was  a  story  in  it.  The  other  children 
said  they  liked  it  because  it  was  funny.  Walter 
de  la  Mare's  long  poem  "The  Thief  in  Robin's 
Castle ' '  was  followed  very  attentively  by  the  class 
— the  description  of  the  articles  stolen — silver 
dishes  and  golden  candlesticks — 

Combs,  Brooches,  Chains,  and  Rings  and  Pins 
and  Buckles 

All  higgledy-piggledy 

/ 

interested  them  greatly. 


92  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

Joanne,  who  is  a  very  young  child,  wrote  these 
verses  ;— 

One  day  I  went  to  the  woods, 

I  stood  on  a  piece  of  moss  and  I  heard  music. 

I  looked  all  round  me, 

I  saw  a  lot  of  Fairies  and  they  said  "Come  with  us." 

And  that  was  all  I  saw. 

I  went  to  the  fields  and  I  saw  a  pretty  ring, 

All  flowers. 

I  saw  a  lot  of  flowers  leading  from  different  directions, 

They  were  the  foot-print  of  the  Fairies. 

I  came  out  at  night ; 

I  picked  one  flower,  and  a  little  Fairy  stood 

Bight  where  I  picked  the  flower. 

There  was  a  big  flower; 

I  picked  it,  and  a  beautiful  Fairy  stood  there. 

Then  I  knew  what  it  was. 

She  wrote  it  in  this  f  oftn  * '  One  day  I  went  to  the 
woods.  I  stood  on  a  peas  of  moss  and  I  heard 
music.  I  lookt  oil  round  me.  I  saw  a  lot  of  fairys 
they  said  come  with  us  and  that  was  all  I  saw.  I 
went  to  the  fields  and  I  saw  a  pretty  Eing.  Oil 
flowers.  I  saw  a  lot  of  flowers  leading  from  dif- 
ferent directions  they  were  the  foot  print  of  the 
fairys.  I  came  out  at  night  I  picked  one  flower  and 
a  little  fairy  stood  right  where  I  picked  the  flower. 
There  was  a  big  flower.  I  picked  it  and  a  beauti- 
ful fairy  stood  there.  Then  I  knew  what  it  was. ' ' 

Group  III 

The  aim  with  this  class  was  to  keep  their  imagi- 
nations active;  to  get  them  to  invent  for  them- 
selves, and  to  create  in  them  an  appreciation  fot 


LITERATURE  93 

poetry.  It  was  part  of  my  aim,  too,  to  bring  to 
this  class  which,  among  the  girls  at  any  rate,  had 
a  good  deal  of  romantic  sentiment,  stories  that 
were  imaginative  and  that  had  at  the  same  time 
an  actuality.  The  class  had  not  been  greatly  inter- 
ested in  the  poetry  we  had  been  reading;  it  was 
necessary  now  to  find  out  what  poetry  appealed 
to  them  and  by  giving  them  possession  of  it  to 
make  them  feel  that  poetry  might  be  as  delightful 
as  stories. 

We  began  reading  some  folk-romances  literally 
written  down.  They  were  from  Curtin's  collec- 
tions, "The  Hero-tales  of  Ireland, "  and  "The 
Myths  and  Folk-lore  of  Ireland. ' '  I  selected  these 
tales  because  they  are  imaginative  and  at  the 
same  time  have  a  household  actuality  about  them. 
And  side  by  side  with  Curtin's  stories  we  read 
some  of  the  very  simple,  uneventful  Indian  stories 
out  of  "The  Jatakas." 

In  Curtin's  collection  most  of  the  stories  have 
unsatisfactory  endings.  This  is  because  in  telling 
them  the  story-teller  does  not  really  finish,  but 
adds  bits  out  of  other  stories.  The  class  noted 
that  the  endings  were  not  good.  Nevertheless, 
they  preferred  these  stories  to  the  stories  from 
"The  Jatakas."  One  of  the  stories  from  "The 
Jatakas"  that  we  read  was  "Granny's  Blackie," 
a  story  about  a  benevolent  elephant  that  was  a 
great  favorite  with  the  First  and  Second  Groups. 
The  children  in  this  Group  did  not  care  for  it. 
They  thought  it  was  childish  to  make  an  elephant 
talk.  I  asked  them  did  they  not  think  it  was  child- 
ish to  describe,  as  the  story-teller  in  Curtin's  book 
described,  a  cow  flying  or  a  hero  killing  ten  thou- 


94  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

sand  of  his  enemies.  Harriet,  one  of  the  elder 
girls,  said  Curtin's  story  was  better  because  it  had 
a  "plot."  Others  said  it  was  better  because  it 
was  about  Kings  and  Castles.  They  liked  Curtin's 
stories  with  all  their  extravagance  because  they 
were  about  people  that  had  an  imaginative  reality 
— youths  on  quests  and  maidens  that  had  to  be 
fought  for  and  cunning  old  men.  The  second  story 
read  from  Curtin's  collection  had  a  girl  for  the 
central  character.  The  story  was  "Fair,  Brown, 
and  Trembling."  We  had  not  gone  far  in  it  when 
the  class  was  able  to  see  its  connection  with  the 
Cinderella  story.  I  also  read  to  the  class  a  Cin- 
derella story  of  my  own  that  I  was  writing — ' '  The 
Girl  Who  Sat  by  the  Ashes" — and  I  asked  them 
to  help  me  with  the  making  of  it.  Dorothy  E.,  who 
had  not  written  before,  this  week  wrote  a  fanciful 
story  inspired  by  this  new  material.  Susanne, 
who  had  written  before,  brought  us  a  new  story. 

I  found  that  the  poetry  that  carried  an  immedi- 
ate appeal  was  the  romantic  poetry  of  Tennyson. 
The  girls,  who  are  the  dominant  element  in  the 
class,  responded  to  it  at  once.  The  poem  we  began 
with  was  "The  Queen  of  the  May."  In  criticis- 
ing it  afterwards  two  of  the  girls,  Dorothy  E.  and 
Ruth,  thought  the  refrain  "I'm  to  be  Queen  of  the 
May,  Mother,  I'm  to  be  Queen  of  the  May"  made 
the  poem  monotonous.  In  discussing  the  effect  of 
this  refrain  we  turned  to  another  poem  that  had 
a  refrain — "The  Hunting  Song  of  the  Seeonee 
Pack"  in  Kipling's  "Jungle  Book."  I  had  Eliza- 
beth and  then  Sylvia  read  this  poem.  I  then  read 
it  to  the  class  showing  them  what  the  refrain  was 
intended  to  bring  out — a  sense  of  distance,  the 


LITERATURE  95 

lonely  cry  of  the  beasts.  Susanne,  with  her  train- 
ing in  Music,  perceived  this.  The  rest  of  the  class 
accepted  it  as  an  explanation. 

Even  those  in  the  class  who  continually  pro- 
tested that  they  did  not  care  for  poetry  were  de- 
lighted with  Tennyson's  romantic  poetry.  "The 
Lady  of  Shalott"  although  it  is  quite  long  was 
followed  with  rapt  attention.  "Sweet  Emma 
Moreland"  was  liked,  but  it  was  too  sad  quite  to 
please  the  class.  "Saint  Agnes'  Eve,"  too,  was 
a  favorite,  but  "The  Lady  of  Shalott"  was  the 
one  preferred. 

Then  the  class  was  asked  to  read  a  story  and  a 
poem  that  they  knew  so  that  we  might  discuss 
them:  "The  Ox  That  Won  the  Forfeit,"  from 
"The  Jatakas,"  and  "Billy  and  the  Big  Drum," 
from  Riley's  "Book  of  Joyous  Children."  The 
day  we  discussed  these  I  had  the  class  give  their 
reminiscences  of  stories  they  had  been  reading 
outside  the  class.  There  follows  a  stenographic 
report  of  one  of  the  lessons  for  this  week. 

Teacher  reads  Tennyson's  "Queen  of  the  May," 
explaining  that  in  England  the  First  of  May  is  a 
festival,  and  that  the  prettiest  girl  is  made  Queen 
of  the  May. 

T.  I  want  the  boys  to  tell  me  what  they  think 
of  it. 

DANE.  It  says  "I'm  to  be  Queen  of  the  May, 
mother;  I'm  to  be  Queen  of  the  May"  too  many 
times. 

DOROTHY  E.  It  is  like  "once,  twice,  and  again" 
in  the  poem  in  "The  Jungle  Book." 

T.  There  are  lots  of  people  who  think  that  that 
poem  in  "The  Jungle  Book"  is  very  fine. 


96 

DOBOTHY  B.  There  are  too  many  ' '  Once,  twice 
and  again"  in  it. 

T.  But  don't  you  think  that  a  refrain  might 
make  a  poein  very  pretty! 

SUEANNE.    YeS)  like  music. 

T.  I  want  one  of  you  to  read  the  poem  to  the 
class.  Will  you  read,  Elizabeth?  (Elisabeth  reads 
"Hunting  Song  of  Seeonee  Pack"  to  class.) 

T.  Don't  you  think  that  poem  gives  you  the 
sense  of  what  it  must  be  to  be  out  in  the  forest  at 
night!  You  are  listening  in  the  woods  and  you 
hear  something  far  away.  It  comes  nearer,  but 
then  dies  away*  Don't  you  think  the  refrain 
"once,  twice  and  again'*  helps  to  give  that  im- 
pression! 

SYLVIA.    Let  me  read  it. 

T.  Read  it,  Sylvia.  You  must  try  to  bring 
otit  the  meaning  that  is  in  that  refrain  (to  class) 
What  do  you  think  of  it  now!  Do  you  think  it  is 
monotonous  ! 

DOROTHY.    I  do. 

ELIZABETH.    I  don't.    I  like  it. 

T.    And  you,  Wayne! 

WAYNE.    I  like  it, 

HABRIET.    We  w?,nt  to  have  a  story  now. 

T.  We're  going  to  have  a  story.  Ruth  will 
read  "The  Ox  that  Won  the  Forfeit."  But  you 
must  tell  me  first  what  you  know  about  these 
stories. 

ELIZABETH.    They  are  from  India. 

T.  They  are  from  India  and  they  are  called 
"The  Jataka  Tales."  In  India  they  are  consid- 
ered religious,  Do  you  notice  anything  religious 
about  the  ones  you  have  f  ead. 


LITERATURE  97 

PUPILS.    No. 

T.  And  yet  these  stories  showing  the  goodness 
and  the  cleverness  of  animals  are  told  to  children 
in  India  as  religious  stories.  Why  do  you  think 
that  is! 

ELIZABETH.  So  that  they  will  learn  to  be  kind 
to  animals. 

T.  Part  of  the  religion  of  India  is  about  being 
kind  to  animals.  Why  do  you  think  that  is1? 

ELIZABETH.  Because  they  used  to  worship 
animals. 

T.  Or  perhaps  they  think  that  souls  go  into 
the  bodies  of  animals.  But  there  is  something 
noble  in  their  religion.  What  is  noble  in  it,  do 
you  think? 

ELIZABETH.    It  teaches  us  to  be  kind  to  animals. 

(Ruth  reads  story.) 

T.  Well  that  story  shows  us  that  animals  have 
strong  feelings  too.  You  cannot  get  anything  out 
of  an  ox  if  you  are  bad  to  him.  There  is  a  spirit 
in  the  ox  too.  The  Indian  stories  would  teach 
you  that  you  have  to  respect  life  no  matter  in 
what  form  you  find  it. 

T.  Now  tell  me  what  stories  you  have  been 
reading  yourselves? 

SUZANNE.  Oscar  Wilde's  "  Fairy  Tales." 
They  are  wonderful. 

SYLVIA.  I  read  the  Indian  stories,  and  I  am 
going  to  read  "The  Blue  Bird." 

T.  Who  can  tell  us  a  story  out  of  what  they 
have  been  reading. 

DOROTHY  E.  I  can.  It  is  "The  Grateful  Prin- 
cess" in  "The  Violet  Fairy  Tales." 


98  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

DOROTHY  E.  A  man  didn't  have  any  children 
and  he  wanted  one,  and  when  he  got  children  he 
got  a  hundred.  He  had  to  go  away  and  get 
money,  and  he  came  across  a  dragon,  and  he 
wanted  to  get  water  and  the  dragon  showed  him 
where  to  get  water,  but  when  he  wanted  to  get 
the  water  the  dragon  was  afraid  he  would  take  it 
all  and  he  said  that  he  would  show  him,  that  is, 
he  would  take  the  water  for  him,  but  the  man  said 
"No"  and  the  dragon  said  I  will  give  you  seven 
ducats  if  you  will  let  me  take  the  water,  and  the 
man  said:  "All  right."  And  they  had  to  get 
some  wood.  And  the  dragon  showed  him  how  to 
get  wood.  Then  he  said:  "Now  let  us  see  you 
do  it.  He  went  up  to  the  top  of  the  tree  and 
began  tying  vines  to  the  branches,  and  the  dragon 
said:  "What  are  you  doing  that  for?"  "So  I 
can  pull  them  all  up  at  once."  The  dragon  didn't 
want  to  lose  his  forest  so  he  said:  "Let  me  do  it 
for  you."  He  said:  "No,  I  will  do  it  myself." 
The  dragon  said:  "I  will  pay  you  seven  more 
ducats  to  let  me  do  it."  And  he  said  to  the 
dragon:  "Go  get  a  stone  and  see  if  you  can  get 
milk  out  of  it.  And  while  he  was  going  to  get  a 
stone  he  picked  up  a  piece  of  cheese  and  when  the 
dragon  came  back  he  tried  to  squeeze  the  stone 
but  he  couldn't  but  the  man  squeezed  the  cheese 
and  fine  warm  buttermilk  came  out.  The  mother 
said:  "You  must  kill  him."  But  he  couldn't. 
And  they  had  to  pay  him  an  awful  lot  of  money, 
and  he  said  that  that  money  was  not  enough  and 
they  had  to  give  him  more.  And  he  said  that  he 
didn't  want  to  carry  it  so  they  wanted  to  get  rid 
of  him  at  once  and  he  took  the  money  and  when 


LITERATURE  99 

the  children  saw  him  coming  they  shouted  for  joy 
and  the  dragon  became  frightened  when  he  heard 
such  a  shout  that  he  threw  the  money  away  and 
Tan  home. 

T.    Where  do  you  think  this  story  is  from! 

SYLVIA.     Germany. 

T.    Ducats:  is  that  from  Germany! 

PUPIL.    No,  Spain. 

T.  Spain  or  France.  What  stories  have  you 
been  reading  lately! 

RUTH.    I  haven't  read  any. 

T.    Why! 

RUTH.    I  am  busy.    I  take  music  lessons. 

T.    What  about  you,  Harriet! 

HARRIET.  I  am  reading  a  lovely  story.  (Har- 
riet tells  plot  of  story  she  is  reading,  and  is  com- 
plimented by  the  teacher  for  her  manner  of  tell- 
ing it.) 

Group  IV 

Still  keeping  their  imaginations  excited  about 
Literature,  the  aim  was  to  give  the  class  some  in- 
struction about  the  technical  side  of  Literature — 
of  verse  especially.  Many  in  the  class — Ivan, 
Billy,  Edward  followed  these  lessons  with  a  real 
understanding,  and  their  questions  and  their  crit- 
icisms were  quite  good. 

In  poetry  we  had  passed  from  the  narrative 
poem  as  in  "Sohrab  and  Rustum"  to  the  ode. 
We  kept  on  reading  ballads  because  the  class  sym- 
pathized with  the  spirit  of  the  ballad  and  with  its 
vigorous  action,  and  because  I  wanted  to  show 
them  that  poetry  does  not  depend  upon  elabo- 


100  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

rate  diction.  The  simple  ballad  form,  of  course, 
provided  a  model  for  their  own  verse  composi- 
tions. 

The  ode  I  selected  was  Gray's  ''The  Bard."  I 
showed  the  class  how  the  ode  differed  from  the 
narrative  poems  we  had  been  reading;  it  did  not 
tell  a  story,  and  hence  in  the  ode  before  us  a 
number  of  incidents  referred  to  were  not  related 
or  could  not  be  related — Edward's  "Conquest  of 
Wales,"  the  "She-wolf  of  France,"  the  "Towers 
of  Julius."  The  ode  could  not  develop  the  stories 
connected  with  these  references  because  the  ode 
was  mainly  an  address  to  some  one  or  to  some 
thing.  But  because  the  ode  could  not  tell  a  story 
it  could  be  more  magnificent  and  more  stately 
than  a  narrative  poem.  The  class  perceived  and 
appreciated  all  this.  Eichard  N.,  Billy,  and 
Edward  were  most  interested  in  the  lesson,  and 
the  class  really  grasped  what  characterized  the 
ode  as  a  type  of  poetry.  "The  Bard"  was  dif- 
ficult because  of  its  many  historic  references  that 
to  the  class  were  obscure. 

Afterwards  we  took  up  a  poem  that  was  start- 
lingly  different  from  any  we  had  been  doing — 
Vachel  Lindsay's  "Chinese  Nightingale."  So 
that  the  strangeness  of  the  form  of  this  new  type 
of  poetry  might  impress  itself  on  the  class  we 
read  with  it  Matthew  Arnold's  "Forsaken  Mer- 
man." The  difference  in  the  pace  of  the  poems 
was  what  they  at  once  perceived  and  how  the  dif- 
ference came  from  the  succession  of  short  sylla- 
bles in  "The  Chinese  Nightingale."  The  class 
was  inclined  to  be  literal  at  this  lesson,  asking 


LITERATURE  101 

such  questions  as  where  the  Nightingale  came 
from  and  why  the  Laundryman  should  be  looked 
upon  as  an  Emperor. 

For  prose  we  kept  on  reading  the  prose  version 
of  the  Homeric  story.  In  connection  with  this  we 
now  read  Tennyson's  version  of  the  passage  de- 
scribing Achilles  shouting  across  the  trench.  This 
passage  showed  them  that  the  Homeric  story  was 
not  merely  a  prose  narrative,  but  something  that 
had  great  splendour  about  it.  For  technical  ex- 
ercises we  turned  parts  of  Matthew  Arnold's 
"Forsaken  Merman"  into  ballad  verse. 

Below  are  verses  written  by  the  class  this  week 
-"The  Engine,"  "The  Clouds,"  "The  Pony," 
"The  Aeroplane,"  and  "Evening."  The  class 
discussed  and  criticised  these  verses  as  they  were 
read  to  them. 

THE  ENGINE 

I  am  an  engine  all  made  of  steel, 
A  whistle,  a  toot,  we're  off, 
we're  off. 

The  Brakeman  signalls,  the  giant 

wheel 

Grinds  on  the  track  and  starts 

with  a  cough. 

Now  that  I've  started,  I  whiz 

along. 

Past  houses,  and  churches,  and 

plain, 

Over  the  bridges  I  roar  my  song 

I  shriek  through  the  sun  and 

the  rain. 


102  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 


THE  CLOUDS 

The  clouds  majestically  sailing  by 

Are  like  a  mighty  fleet. 
They  race  along  through  the  azure  sky 

A  race  which  none  can  beat. 

They  fly  along  on  silvery  wings, 
Like  beautiful  ships  they  go, 

They  take  the  shapes  of  marvelous  things, 
Under  the  sunset's  glow. 


THE  PONY 

I  am  a  pony,  black  and  white, 
With  flowing  mane  and  tail, 
I  gallop  like  a  flash  of  light, 
Bringing  the  evening  mail. 

With  foaming  jaws  and  fiery  eye, 
Through  sun  or  rain  or  sleet, 
I  gallop  on  with  head  held  high, 
And  merry  twinkling  feet. 


THE  AEROPLANE 

The  aeroplane  is  a  soaring  bird, 

It  flies  by  day  and  night, 
From  sea  to  sea  and  land  to  land, 

It  makes  its  lightning  flight. 

The  sun  shines  brightly  on  its  wings, 

As  through  the  sky  it  speeds, 
Or  wings  its  way  through  clouds  and  rain, 

The  distant  earth  recedes. 


LITERATURE  103 

EVENING 

Bright 's  the  fireplace  in  winter  time 
When  outside  the  wind  blows, 
Grave's  the  clock's  bell  singing  out  "Nine 
'Tis  nine."    Still  the  wind  blows, 
Blows.    But  near  the  fireplace  'tis  fine 
When  outside  the  wind  blows. 

'And  the  warmth  of  the  burning  logs 
Makes  you  drowsy   drowsy 
When  you  are  lying  on  soft  rugs 
A  spark,  a  crack,  bzzy — bzzy — 
Make  the  cold  wind  and  cracking  logs 
Doesn't  it  make  you  drowsy 
When  you  are  lying  on  soft  rugs? 

ABSTRACT  OF  RECORDS  FOR  FIFTH  WEEK 
Group  I 

The  aim  with  these  little  children  was  to  give 
them  certain  verse-rhythms  and  certain  story- 
incidents  that  they  could  feel  for  and  cherish.  A 
few  of  them  had  been  on  "a  hike"  in  the  moun- 
tains, and  they  talked  of  what  they  had  seen  as 
of  mythical  things — "A  great  boat  on  a  big  lake," 
"an  eagle."  We  finished  the  poem-game  "The 
Dirge  for  the  Righteous  Kitten,"  and  we  made 
a  new  one  out  of  *  *  Lady  Moon,  Lady  Moon,  where 
are  you  roving  I"  with  one  of  the  children  asking, 
and  one  answering  as  the  Moon.  The  other  poems 
were  from  Stevenson's  "Child's  Garden  of 
Verses."  At  the  end  of  the  week  I  had  the  class 
re-tell  or  endeavour  to  re-tell  the  stories  they  had 
read.  What  they  called  "The  Story  of  the  Giant 
who  Tried  to  Kill  his  Wife  and  got  Killed  Him- 
self"— the  Blue  Beard  story  was  the  favorite. 


104  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

Group  II 

The  aim  during  these  last  weeks  was  to  give 
this  class  a  sense  of  value  in  words,  of  music  in 
Verse,  of  invention  in  stories.  It  was  to  give  them 
a  vivid  interest  in  actual  composition. 

The  whole  class  were  agreed  as  to  what  they 
liked  in  poetry — they  liked  poetry  that  was 
1 ' funny, "—they  liked  Edward  Lear's  "The  Owl 
and  the  Pussy  Cat,"  and  such  a  poem  as  "Ber- 
ries" in  Walter  de  la  Mare's  "Peacock  Pie." 
Jackie  showed  his  appreciation  of  rhyme  by  ob- 
jecting to  two  rhymes  that  the  poet  had  made  in 
this  poem — "came"  rhyming  with  "jam,"  and 
"can"  rhyming  with  "lane."  Otherwise,  he 
said,  the  poem  was  a  good  one.  Ruth,  one  of  the 
village  children,  showed  herself  very  clever  in 
finding  equivalents  of  out-of-the-way  words  in 
stories  we  read;  Lucienne  and  Joanne  with 
Bernice,  one  of  the  village  children,  took  the  deep- 
est interest  in  the  reading. 

To  show  them  the  interest  that  poems  other 
than  the  "funny"  ones  had,  we  read  Blake's 
"Infant  Joy"  and  "Piping  Down  the  Valleys 
Wild,"  Wordsworth's  "Lucy  Gray,"  and  Colley 
Gibber's  "The  Blind  Boy."  I  tried  to  draw  out 
their  ideas  of  poetry  in  discussion.  It  was  only 
on  the  very  thoughtful  children  like  Bernice  that 
such  a  poem  as  "Lucy  Gray"  made  an  impres- 
sion. The  other  children  still  voted  for  the 
"amusing"  in  poetry.  For  story  we  read 
"Childe  Charity"  from  "Granny's  Wonderful 
Chair,"  discussing  the  invention  in  the  incidents 
and  the  unfamiliar  words  and  phrases.  None  of 


LITERATURE  105 

the  children  wrote  any  verse  or  stories  this  week, 
but  I  had  them  write  their  reminiscence  of  stories 
they  had  read  in  "The  Christmas  Tales  of 
Flanders." 

Group  III 

The  time  had  now  come  to  give  this  group  the 
opportunity  for  dramatic  expression.  I  was  con- 
sidering the  making  of  a  play  in  which  most  of 
the  parts  would  be  taken  by  this  class.  Without 
telling  them  what  my  ulterior  object  was  I  had  the 
class  read  the  chapters  at  the  end  of  "The  Ad- 
ventures of  Odysseus"  that  describe  the  waiting 
of  Penelope  and  the  return  of  Odysseus.  The  class 
was  quite  carried  away  by  the  story.  I  then  asked 
them  if  they  would  like  to  have  a  play  made  out 
of  this  story  and  they  were  enthusiastic  for  it.  I 
then  sketched  out  what  sort  of  a  play  we  might 
make  and  what  characters  we  might  have  in  it. 
I  wanted  to  give  the  class  the  impression  that 
they  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  the  projection 
and  the  making  of  the  play. 

Having  decided  about  the  play  we  went  on  with 
our  usual  studies.  I  wanted  to  press  the  advan- 
tage we  had  won  for  poetry  by  their  reception  of 
Tennyson's  romantic  poems.  We  read  "King 
Cophetua  and  the  Beggar  Maid."  This  gave  us  a 
chance  for  more  dramatic  expression;  different 
girls  saw  themselves  in  the  part  of  the  beggar- 
maid  and  they  made  an  acting-version  for  the 
class.  Another  poem  read  was  "Lancelot  and 
Guinevere."  The  class  remembered  the  name  of 
Lancelot  from  "The  Lady  of  Shalott,"  and  the 
poem  charmed  them.  "The  Lady  of  Shalott" 


106  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

remained  the  favorite ;  the  class  spoke  of  it  as  the 
best  poem  they  had  ever  read ;  they  spoke  no  more 
of  disliking  poetry. 

I  asked  the  class  to  recommend  stories  for  our 
reading.  They  selected  stories  from  "The  Jungle 
Book"  and  "The  Christmas  Tales  of  Flanders." 
What  they  selected  from  "The  Jungle  Book"  was 
"Rikki-tikki-Tavi."  The  stories  selected  from 
"The  Christmas  Tales  of  Flanders"  were  humor- 
ous— "Simple  John,"  and  "Farmer  Broom, 
Farmer  Leaf,  and  Farmer  Iron."  The  response 
to  all  the  stories  was  keen  and  spontaneous  and 
two  of  the  girls,  Dorothy  E.  and  Harriet  read 
quite  dramatically.  I  gave  them  a  new  type  of 
story  this  week — Oscar  Wilde's  "Happy  Prince." 
The  words  and  phrases  were  novel  to  them  and 
exciting.  This  week  Wayne  wrote  a  story — '  *  How 
the  Camel  Got  His  Hump. ' '  It  has  the  same  title 
as  one  of  Kipling's  stories,  but  is  not  at  all  like  it. 
The  story  follows  and  after  it  a  stenographic 
report  of  a  half -hour's  class. 

HOW  THE  CAMEL  GOT  HIS  HUMP 

In  India  there  lived  a  rich  old  miser  who  spent  most 
of  his  time  in  counting  his  money.  And  was  on  the 
lookout  for  more. 

He  and  his  two  camels  lived  together  in  their  shack. 

One  day  they  were  traveling  through  a  small  town 
in  which  was  a  jewelry  store. 

The  sign  stared  at  him  as  if  it  was  saying  "Rob  me" 
"Rob  me." 

The  miser  dismounted  and  went  in.  There  was 
nobody  in  sight  so  he  entered  the  treasure  room. 

The  precious  stones  dazzled  in  his  eyes.  Said  he, 
"I  can't  carry  these  in  my  hand  so  I  must  bring  my 
camels  in." 


LITERATURE  107 

So  out  he  went  and  brought  in  the  two  camels. 

They  squeezed  through  the  first  door  but  alas!  the 
second  door  was  too  small  and  both  scraped  their 
backs.  As  the  miser  was  loading  a  small  hump  grew 
on  each  one  of  them. 

It  grew  larger  and  larger  until  they  had  a  hump 
one-third  as  large  as  they  were. 

The  miser  was  ready  and  told  the  camels.  They 
rose  and  started  but  their  hump  prevented  it.  The 
camels  struggled  and  awoke  the  keeper  upstairs.  He 
got  up  and  came  downstairs.  To  his  surprise  he  saw 
the  miser  lashing  the  camels. 

The  keeper  threw  a  stone  at  the  miser  but  he  dodged 
and  hit  one  of  the  camels. 

At  once  the  camels  were  growing  a  new  hump,  the 
same  size  as  the  other.  The  keeper  struck  the  miser 
with  a  stick  and  killed  him,  but  from  then  on  we  al- 
ways have  had  a  one  and  a  two-humped  camel  instead 
of  a  straight-backed  one. 

Stenographic  Record  of  Group  HI 

T.  I  want  to  give  you  a  lesson  in  reading. 
When  you  read  aloud  remember  that  you  are  not 
reading  for  your  own  amusement.  You  are  read- 
ing so  as  to  make  other  people  understand  what 
it  is  all  about. 

DOROTHY  E.  That  is  why  I  read  fast.  I  forget 
that  I  am  reading  to  others. 

(Teacher  reads  the  story  "The  Convent  Free 
from  Care"  from  "The  Christmas  Tales  of  Flan- 
ders.") 

T.    Did  you  understand  every  word  in  it? 

PUPILS.    We  did. 

T.    Very  well  then.    What  is  a  Convent? 

ELIZABETH.    A  home  where  monks  or  nuns  live. 

T.    And  what  is  an  Abbot? 

ELIZABETH.    The  head  father. 


108  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

T.  He  cudgelled  his  brains — what  does  that 
mean? 

DANE.    He  thought. 

T.  A  cudgel  is  a  big  stick — you  beat  somebody 
with  it.  In  the  same  way  he  beat  his  brains.  Now, 
Dane,  I  want  you  to  tell  the  story.  I  want  to  see 
how  you  can  re-tell  a  story. 

DANE.  (Re-telling  story  just  read.)  The  Em- 
peror was  walking  along  and  come  to  this  Convent 
and  saw  the  sign  "The  Convent  Free  from  Care." 
And  the  Emperor  couldn't  understand  what  it 
could  be.  He  worried  so  much  about  things — his 
kingdom — and  he  thought  it  must  be  queer  not  to 
have  something  to  think  about.  And  when  he  got 
back  to  his  castle  he  sent  for  the  abbot.  He  asked 
him  why  didn't  they  have  care  there?  The  ab- 
bot told  him  that  they  ate  and  drank  and  slept 
and  didn't  have  anything  to  worry  about.  Then 
the  king  said  he  would  give  him  something  to 
worry  about,  and  so  he  asked  him  three  questions : 
"Tell  me  the  depth  of  the  sea,  how  many  cows' 
tails  it  will  take  to  reach  from  the  earth  to  the 
sun,  and  what  he  was  thinking  about."  He  didn't 
know  what  to  do  so  he  thought  he  would  ask  his 
shepherd. 

HABBIET.    That's  not  it. 

T.    What  did  he  do,  Harriet? 

HARRIET.  Paced  back  and  forth  in  his  garden 
and  the  evening  bell  rang,  and  he  didn't  know  it, 
and  if  lightning  came  down  he  would  not  have 
thought  about  it.  He  said  that  he  thought  per- 
haps the  shepherd  could  answer  the  question,  and 
just  at  that  moment  the  shepherd  appeared  and 
the  shepherd  said:  "What  is  the  matter?"  (The 


LITERATURE  109 

shepherd  was  astonished  because  he  never  saw 
him  worried  before).  He  said  that  the  king  had 
asked  him  to  do  three  things — to  find  the  depth  of 
the  sea,  to  find  how  many  cows'  tails  it  would  take 
to  reach  the  sun,  and  what  the  emperor  was  think- 
ing about.  And  the  shepherd  said:  " That's  easy. 
I  will  take  your  clothes  in  the  morning  and  go  to 
the  king."  So  he  dressed  up  the  next  morn- 
ing in  the  abbot 's  clothes  and  went  to  the  king  and 
the  king  said:  "Have  you  got  the  answer  to  the 
questions!"  And  the  abbot  that  was  supposed  to 
be  the  abbot  said:  "Yes."  "Say  what  it  is 
then."  He  said:  "The  depth  of  the  sea  was  a 
stone's  throw."  "How  many  tails  to  the  sun  I" 
"One  cow's  tail  if  it  was  long  enough."  And 
what  he  was  thinking  about? 

SUSANNE.  He  was  thinking  he  saw  the  abbot 
before  himself  but  it  was  his  shepherd. 

T.  Who  was  the  emperor?  Charles  the  Fifth. 
Do  you  know  anything  about  him?  He  was  a 
great  emperor;  where  did  he  rule? 

SYLVIA.    France. 

T.  Germany,  Spain  and  Belgium.  It  is  about 
Belgium  those  stories  are  written — those  stories 
about  Flanders. 

WAYNE.  Flanders'  Field:  a  poem  was  written 
about  that. 

T.    Was  Charles  the  Fifth  a  great  emperor? 

WAYNE.  Yes.  There  are  a  lot  of  stories  writ- 
ten about  him.  He  was  the  greatest  emperor  of 
the  time.  Did  Charles  the  Fifth  need  to  worry? 
Yes.  I  should  say  he  did,  and  he  was  very  much 
astonished  when  he  heard  of  a  Convent  Free 
from  Care. 


110  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

T.    I  want  to  hear  how  you  can  re-tell  stories. 

PUPIL.    I  haven't  read  a  story  in  an  age. 

T.    Tell  us  about  the  play  that  you  saw  the 
other  night  in  the  village. 

ELIZABETH.    There  were  about  three  girls  and 
one  was  a  maid  and  her  name  was  Ada  and  there 
was  a  cook — Marie — and  a  kitchen  girl  named 
Emily.    The  cook  and  the  maid  were  always  tor- 
menting Emily  because  she  was  so  homely.    And 
she  wanted  a  young  man  to  walk  out  with.    And 
the  mistress  had  a  young  man  named  Mr.  Forbes, 
and  one  day  Emily  came  into  the  kitchen  and  she 
said  she  hadn't  a  young  man  to  walk  out  with, 
and  felt  so  bad,  and  said  she  would  like  to  have 
one  very  much.    And  they  laughed  aloud  and  said 
who  would  be  walking  with  one  like  her.     Sud- 
denly   she    said:     "I    have    a    young    man." 
'  *  What  ? ' '  they  said.    '  *  Yes,  I  have  a  young  man. ' ' 
' « What  'a  his  name  ? "    ' '  Harold. ' '    ( Only  she  said 
'Arold. )    * '  What 's  his  business  t ' '    "  Carpentry, ' ' 
she  said.    "Did  he  send  you  anything?"    And  she 
said  he  had  sent  her  a  lot  of  letters  and  an  ana- 
gram.   She  didn't  say  that  till  afterwards.    She 
took  the  letter  out  of  her  hands  and  read  it.    It 
was  a  true  love  letter,  and  then  when  Ada  had 
to  go  and  wait  on  the  table  Marie,  the  cook,  asked 
her  what  else  did  he  send.    She  said,  "An  ana- 
gram.    My  first  is  a  rose  in  the  garden;  my 
second  is  something  about  love."    The  mistress 
and  her  beau  had  been  fighting  and  when  Ada 
came  down  she  said  that  they  had  been  fighting 
about   an   anagram.     And   Marie   said:   "Well, 
Emily?"    And  then  Marie  asked  about  the  letter 
and  said  that  Emily  had  returned  it.    And  Marie 


LITERATURE  111 

said  it  was  her  duty  to  report  to  the  mistress  that 
Emily  had  her  letter,  but  if  they  didn't  hang  to- 
gether what  would  become  of  England!  Emily 
then  began  to  cry.  She  said  her  mother  was  just 
like  that — she  would  give  her  a  shove  here  and 
a  push  there  and  tell  her  that  she  would  never 
get  a  husband.  Emily  went  on  crying.  And  when 
Ada  came  down  they  didn't  say  anything  about  it. 
Marie  told  Emily  that  Ada  would  be  shocked  if 
Emily's  young  man  wouldn't  come  to  her.  And 
Emily  said  what  could  they  make  up  about  it.  She 
said  "I  couldn't  say  I  had  broken  with  him." 
And  the  cook  said,  "No,  I  couldn't  say  as  how 
he  had  broken  with  me."  And  the  cook  said, 
"You  could  do  that  very  well." 

T.  You  have  told  it  very  well,  Elizabeth.  Now 
we  shall  read  some  poetry.  What  poem  do  you 
like! 

DANE.     I  don't  like  poetry. 

T.    What  poem  do  you  like  ! 

RUTH.    The  May  Queen. 

DOROTHY  E.    "The  Lady  of  Shalott." 

HARRIET.  We  like  the  poem  about  the  Beggar 
Maid. 

T.    Do  you  all  like  that  poem! 

PUPILS.    Yes. 

T.  I  think  the  girls  ought  to  learn  that  poem 
by  heart.  It  would  be  very  nice  to  know  it  and 
be  able  to  recall  it.  Don't  you  think  so! 

SYLVIA.    I  will  learn  it. 

T.  Here  is  another  poem  by  the  same  poet. 
It  is  called  "The  Dying  Swan."  You  know  that 
there  is  a  story  that  the  swan  sings  only  once. 

ELIZABETH.    When  it  is  dying. 


112  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

(Teacher  reads  Tennyson's  "The  Dying  Swan.") 
T.    Do  you  like  the  poem! 
SUSANNE.    I  like  it  very  much. 
T.    And  you! 
SYLVIA.    I  liked  it. 
ELIZABETH.    It  was  pretty  good. 
WAYNE.    I  didn't  like  it. 
DANE.    Neither  did  I. 

Group  IV 

Part  of  my  aim  with  this  Group  all  along  had 
been  to  give  them  an  appreciation  of  the  different 
poetic  forms.  In  these  last  weeks  I  concentrated 
a  good  deal  on  this  particular  aim.  We  had  gone 
from  the  narrative  to  the  ode.  I  wanted  to  take 
them  now  to  the  sonnet,  the  lyric  and  passages  of 
dramatic  poetry. 

After  "The  Bard"  we  took  up  Dryden's  "Alex- 
ander's  Feast."  It  was  easy  to  make  the  class 
see  the  variations  in  the  music  of  this  ode — from 
the  jolly  lines  that  celebrate  wine  to  the  long,  fail- 
ing lines  that  tell  of  the  fall  of  Darius.  On  dis- 
cussing with  the  class  the  difference  between  ' '  The 
Bard"  and  "Alexander's  Feast"  I  was  surprised 
to  find  that  the  class  thought  "The  Bard"  was 
"more  real."  They  thought  it  was  more  real 
because  it  was  more  denunciatory.  The  whole 
class  appreciated  the  music  of  "Alexander's 
Feast." 

We  then  had  the  "Ode  to  the  Skylark."  Dis- 
cussing the  difference  between  it  and  "Alexan- 
der's Feast"  they  said  the  "Ode  to  the  Skylark" 
was  more  regular  and  there  were  no  bits  of  his- 


LITERATURE  113 

tory  referred  to  in  it.  We  made  note  of  this 
difference. 

Later  we  read  another  type  of  ode — Andrew 
Marvell's  "On  the  Return  of  Oliver  Cromwell." 
•We  contrasted  this  ode  with  "The  Bard"  and 
with  "Alexander's  Feast,"  and  I  explained  the 
difference  between  the  irregular  Pindaric  Ode  as 
in  the  other  two  and  the  regular  Horatian  Ode 
as  in  the  one  on  "Cromwell's  Return."  The 
class  thought  the  Pindaric  was  a  grander  form  of 
ode  and  the  remarks  they  made  in  the  discussion 
were  critical  and  intelligent. 

The  Ode  on  "Cromwell's  Return"  brought  us  to 
the  sonnet.  We  read  Milton's  address  to  the  Lord 
General.  I  now  tried  to  make  the  class  familiar 
with  the  sonnet  form  by  showing  them  the  octave 
and  the  sestet  and  explaining  the  dependence  of 
the  one  upon  the  other.  The  class  were  able  to 
see  how  the  Miltonic  sonnet  was  built  up  and  they 
were  deeply  interested  in  these  discoveries  in 
poetic  form. 

We  continued  our  reading  of  "The  Adventures 
of  Odysseus."  We  brought  Tennyson's  "Lotos 
Eaters"  into  this  reading  and  discussed  how  Ten- 
nyson elaborated  the  meagre  references  in  the 
Homeric  story.  Following  are  two  stenographic 
reports  of  half -hour  classes  this  week. 

Group  IV 

T.  We  are  going  to  study  a  new  ode  today. 
We  have  studied  an  ode  of  Grey  and  an  ode  of 
Dryden.  Now  we  are  going  to  study  an  ode 


114  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

of  Shelley.  This  is  the  "Ode  to  the  Skylark." 
The  skylark  is  not  a  bird  you  have  in  this 
country. 

IVAN.  We  have  it  in  Switzerland.  It  goes  way 
up  and  then  suddenly  falls  down. 

T.  They  are  the  most  wonderful  singing 
birds.  They  sing  as  they  rise — more  and  more 
beautiful  the  song  becomes  as  they  rise.  I  am 
going  to  read  this  ' '  Ode  to  the  Skylark. ' '  I  read 
to  you  the  other  day  an  ode  of  praise  to  a  man. 
These  odes  generally  follow  the  model  of  what  is 
called  the  Pindaric  Ode.  They  are  more  or  less 
modelled  on  Pindar's  odes.  "What  were  Pindar's 
odes  generally  about? 

BILLY.  These  men  were  in  games  they  used  to 
have  every  year  or  so  and  a  person  who  won 
some  of  the  games  had  an  ode  written  about 
him. 

T.  Pindar's  odes  were  almost  always  about 
men.  They  had  a  peculiar  construction.  This  is 
an  Ode  to  a  Skylark  so  it  is  not  the  same  sort  as 
the  Pindaric  ode.  It  will  be  simple  and  plain. 
This  is  a  beautiful  verse.  Shelley  gets  the  effect 
of  the  bird  rising.  (Quotes  and  reads  complete 
poem.)  What  does  he  say  of  the  skylark? 

BILLY.  He  compares  the  song  of  the  skylark 
to  various  things.  Then  he  compares  it  to  every- 
thing that  the  skylark  might  be  like.  He  says 
that  every  human  song  compared  to  the  song  of 
the  skylark  is  empty. 

EDWARD.    What  is  "Chorous  Hymenial?" 

T.  That  is  a  marriage  song,  a  song  of  triumph, 
or  a  song  about  wine — all  these  songs  compared 
to  the  skylark's  song, 


LITERATURE  115 

"Matched  with  thine 
would  be  all 
But  an  empty  vaunt 
A  thing  wherein  we  feel  there  is  some 
hidden  want." 

What  do  you  think  of  this  ode? 

IVAN.    It's  fine. 

T.  How  does  it  compare  with  the  other  odes  I 
What  has  it  in  common  with  the  others  that  we 
have  been  reading? 

EDWARD.     It  is  more  quiet. 

T.    What  makes  it  different? 

EDWARD.    It  is  a  song  of  praise. 

T.  And  an  address.  It  begins  by  praising  the 
skylark.  Is  there  anything  in  this  that  you  don't 
understand?  Shall  I  read  some  of  the  stanzas 
again?  I  won't  read  them  all  but  I  shall  read 
some.  I  will  read  down  from  where  he  compares 
the  skylark  to  certain  things.  He  begins  by  say- 
ing: 

"Like  a  Poet  hidden 
In  the  light  of  thought 
Singing  hymns  unbidden 
Till  the  world  is  wrought 
To  sy_mpathy  with  hopes  and  fears 
it  heeded  not: 

"Like  a  high-born  maiden 
In  a  palace  tower 
Soothing  her  love-laden 
Soul  in  secret  hour 
With  music  sweet  as  love,  which  over- 
flows her  bower." 

T.    What  is  a  glowworm? 
PUPIL.    A   glowworm  is   a   little   worm   that 
shows  a  faint  light  like  the  firefly. 


116  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

T.    Who,    do    you    think,    are    the    "winged 
thieves?" 

The  hawk. 


PtJPILS- \Thewinds. 

T.  The  winds.  It  must  be  the  winds.  They 
are  the  only  things  mentioned. 

Now  he  talks  about  himself  and  about  humanity 
and  he  compares  them  with  the  skylark.  Notice 
the  way  the  ode  is  built  up.  Then  he  compares 
the  song  of  the  skylark  to  the  different  things — 
to  different  beautiful  and  imaginative  things — 
and  then  he  compares  the  skylark's  lot  to  the  lot 
of  the  human  being.  Then  he  says  that  we  look 
before  and  after — that  is  the  misfortune  of  men 
that  they  can  see  the  past  and  the  future  and 
that  makes  them  sad.  We  can  never  be  happy  like 
the  lark,  why? 

IVAN.  The  lark  knows  only  the  present  and  we 
know  what  is  past  and  the  sad  things  of  the  past 
and  perhaps  the  tragic  things  that  are  to  come 
and  that  makes  people  very  unhappy. 

T.  Yes.  Shelley  says  we  can  never  be  as 
happy  as  the  skylark  is  because 

"We  look  before  and  after, 
And  pjne  for  what  is  not ; 
Our  sincerest  laughter 
With  some  pain  is  fraught;" 

Do  you  like  it? 

BILLY.    Yes,  it  is  very  good. 

T.  We  shall  read  some  of  Homer  now.  You 
must  keep  what  I  told  you  about  this  sort  of 
poetry  in  your  mind.  Don't  lose  any  of  it  be- 


LITERATURE  117 

cause  we  are  going  to  go  over  this  again.    Who 
is  going  to  read?    Where  were  we? 

BILLY.  I  think  where  Odysseus  was  going  to 
the  palace. 

T.  Oh,  yes.  Will  you  read?  Stand  up  please 
and  read  aloud  so  that  everybody  will  understand 
what  it  is  about. 

CARL.  (Reads  from  "The  Children's  Ho- 
mer.") 

T.    What  size  would  a  city  be  in  those  days! 

EDWARD.    About  as  big  as  Peterborough. 

T.  Yes,  they  would  just  have  the  palace  of  the 
king  and  a  few  houses. 

Odysseus  was  in  a  very  difficult  situation.  It 
all  depended  on  this  king.  Would  this  king  do  a 
very  great  act?  An  act  that  would  be  expensive 
and  dangerous  to  him.  Would  he  give  him  a  ship 
and  send  him  to  his  own  country  or  would  he  do 
nothing  for  him?  The  king  would  have  to  like 
him  very  much  as  he  had  very  far  to  go.  If 
somebody  came  to  you  and  was  poor  and  lived  far 
away,  say  in  Canada,  you  would  have  to  think  a 
lot  of  him  before  you  would  give  him  a  ship  and 
servants,  etc.,  for  him  to  go  to  Canada.  That  was 
the  state  he  was  in. 

Stenographic  Record  of  Group  IV 

T.  This  poem  was  written  by  Milton  when 
there  was  a  civil  war  in  England  and  they  were 
expecting  an  assault  on  the  city.  Will  you  read 
it,  Ivan?-" 

IVAN.  "When  the  Assault  was  intended  for 
the  City." 

T.    What  do  you  think  of  that  sonnet?    Would 


118  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

you  be  surprised  to  learn  that  it  is  one  of  the 
greatest  sonnets  ever  written! 

IVAN.    I  would. 

T.  You  read  it  very  badly.  This  was  a  poem 
written  when  the  friends  of  Milton  were  expecting 
an  attack  to  be  made  on  the  city.  And  he  ad- 
dresses them  telling  them  what  to  do.  He  asks 
them  if  they  do  take  the  city  to  spare  his  house. 
Why?  Because  he  is  a  poet  and  he  can  make 
their  deed  resound  o'er  land  and  sea.  And  he 
reminds  them  of  two  incidents  in  history.  When 
the  great  Athenian  conqueror,  Alexander  the 
Great,  bade  them  spare  the  house  of  Pindarus 
and  when  Athens  was  to  be  destroyed  the  people 
came  out  and  repeated  the  verses  from  Euripides 
and  the  conquerors  were  so  moved  that  they  let 
the  people  live.  (Reads.)  How  much  have  I 
read? 

IVAN.    The  first  quatrain. 

T.  (Reads.)  Now  I  have  read  how  much  of 
the  sonnet? 

IVAN.    The  octave. 

T.  Now  we  begin  with  the  sestet.  He  has  had 
everything  said  that  he  wants  to  say  in  the  octave. 
Now  he  takes  a  little  turn  and  speaks  in  a  little 
different  way.  Now  does  it  seem  better  to  you? 

EDWARD.    Who  wrote  that,  did  you  say? 

T.  That  is  a  sonnet  by  Milton.  Bead  it,  and 
read  it  with  proper  emphasis. 

EDWARD.     (Reads.) 

T.  Let  us  understand  what  it  is  all  about. 
What  illustration  does  he  use  in  telling  them  to 
save  the  poet's  house?  Who,  does  he  mention, 
did  the  same? 


LITERATURE  119 

EDWARD.    Pindar's  house  was  spared. 

T.    By  whom? 

PUPIL.    By  Alexander  the  Great. 

T.  When  the  people  came  out  and  repeated  to 
the  conquerors  of  Athens  the  verses  of  Euripides, 
the  conquerors  were  so  overcome  by  the  sadness 
of  these  stanzas  from  the  Elektra  that  their  hearts 
melted  and  they  allowed  the  houses  to  stand. 
What  other  house  was  saved? 

PUPIL.     The  house  of  Pindar? 

T.    Who  was  Pindar? 

EDWARD.  He  wrote  all  the  odes  of  the  Grecian 
games. 

T.  The  great  Athenian  conqueror,  who  was 
he? 

RICHARD  N.    Alexander  the  Great. 

T.  (Reads  sonnet  again.)  Now  do  you  begin 
to  see  anything  more  in  the  sonnet  than  you  saw 
at  first?  This  is  a  very  remarkable  sonnet.  Can 
anyone  tell  me  what  type  of  sonnet  it  is? 

EDWARD.     Italian. 

T.  Italian.  Now  observe  how  beautifully  this 
sonnet  is  done.  The  octave  is  made  up  of  two 
quatrains  and  the  two  quatrains  are  separate  from 
each  other.  (Reads.)  In  the  very  sound  of  the 
lines  you  have  the  feeling  of  ruin,  "When  temple 
and  tower  went  to  the  ground."  He  uses  quite 
another  line  here, 

"To  save  the  Athenian  walls  from  ruins  bare." 
Notice  the  contrast: 

....  "when  temple  and  tower 
Went  to  the  ground." 


120  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

You  feel  the  sudden  crash.  The  other  line  is 
slow  and  long.  I  shall  read  you  another  sonnet. 
Milton's  sonnet  on  " Blindness."  Did  you  know 
that  Milton  was  blind? 

IVAN.    Yes,  he  used  to  dictate  to  his  daughters. 

T.  (Reads.)  Can  you  understand  what  his 
consolation  is  for  being  blind? 

EDWAED.    Patience. 

T.  He  asks  himself  what  God  expects  him  to 
do.  Then  patience  replies  to  him  that  God  is  after 
all  a  great  King,  and  there  are  all  sorts  of  people 
around  a  great  king.  Some  of  them  do  all  sorts 
of  things  and  others  merely  stand  around  and 
wait.  We  have  read  how  many  sonnets  today  in 
the  Italian  form? 

EDWARD.  Two.  The  Italian  sonnets  are  more 
common  than  the  Shakespearean. 

T.  Practically  all  the  sonnets  are  in  the  Ital- 
ian form.  Now  we  will  read  from  Homer. 
Where  have  we  read  to? 

EDWARD.    Where  Penelope  takes  the  bow. 

"This  is  the  bow  of  Odysseus " 

T.  One  of  the  warriors  took  up  the  bow  to  see 
if  he  could  bend  it.  But  he  could  not  bend  it. 

PUPILS.  (Read  from  "The  Children's  Ho- 
mer.") 

ABSTRACT  OF  RECORDS  FOR  SIXTH  WEEK 
Group  I 

The  aim  was  the  same  as  in  previous  week. 
The  class  had  now  become  quite  ready  in  expres- 
sion through  the  poem-games  and  through  the  re- 
telling of  the  stories  they  had  read.  Asked  class 


LITERATURE  121 

on  various  days  this  week  to  re-tell  stories  they 
had  liked.  Alvin,  who  is  very  eager  about  stories 
and  who  has  quite  a  remarkable  memory,  told  the 
story  of  " Little  Thumb"  out  of  Perrault's  collec- 
tion, remembering  phrases  clearly.  Charlotte  told 
the  story  of  "The  Sleeping  Beauty"  from  the 
same  collection.  She  was,  however,  slow  in  tell- 
ing it  and  had  to  be  helped  on.  At  the  end  of 
this  last  week  we  had  a  recitation  of  all  the  poems 
the  class  had  learned.  A  few  of  the  children  had 
as  many  as  eight  poems  for  a  possession — by 
Stevenson,  Blake,  Vachel  Lindsay  and  others. 
The  two  poem-games  "The  Dirge  for  the  Right- 
eous Kitten,"  and  "Lady  Moon"  pleased  the 
children  greatly,  and  they  were  always  eager  to 
do  them.  The  last  poem  we  learned  was  Blake's 
"The  Fly."  The  last  stories  we  read  and  had 
told  were  "Puss  in  Boots"  and  "The  Fairy" 
from  Perrault,  and  "The  Foolish  Timid  Rabbit" 
from  "The  Jatakas,"  a  story  that  was  a  great 
favorite  with  these  little  children.  Some  of  the 
children  in  this  group  had  parts  in  a  comedy  that 
was  being  improvised. 

Group  II 

The  aim  was  as  in  previous  week.  To  give 
them  an  extended  vocabulary  and  a  sense  of  the 
value  of  words,  I  had  the  class  write  down  the 
words  that  were  quite  unfamiliar  to  them  in  our 
readings ;  we  then  made  games  in  which  these  un- 
familiar words  were  used.  This  week,  for  its 
value  in  beautiful  sound,  I  read  to  the  class  Shel- 
ley's "Arethusa  Arose."  First  I  explained  to 
them  that  they  need  not  try  to  follow  the  verses 


122  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

for  a  story.  The  whole  class  appreciated  the 
music  of  the  poem.  Lucienne  thought  she  could 
put  a  baby  to  sleep  with  the  words.  Some  of  the 
unfamiliar  words  we  got  out  of  the  poem  I  im- 
pressed on  the  minds  of  the  children  by  having 
them  write  them  down  and  use  them  in  sentences 
that  we  made  up. 

"The  Pied  Piper  of  Hamelin"  that  we  read  this 
week  showed  the  class  that  verse  can  be  used  to 
tell  a  story.  The  rhymes  gave  them  great  fun. 
I  had  different  children  re-tell  the  incidents  bring- 
ing out  the  unfamiliar  words  that  were  in  the 
poem.  One  rat  survived — what  did  he  think  of 
the  music?  Different  children  tried  to  describe 
the  rat's  feelings.  One  child  survived — what  did 
he  think  the  music  was  like?  The  children  tried 
to  enter  into  and  explain  the  survivor's  thoughts. 
We  used  Kipling's  story  "How  the  Elephant  got 
his  Trunk"  for  the  purpose  of  adding  to  the  vo- 
cabulary of  the  class  and  giving  them  fluency  of 
expression.  The  Rock-Python  and  the  Elephant, 
and  the  Crocodile  and  the  Elephant  have  conver- 
sations. We  made  up  speeches  for  the  Crocodile 
and  the  Eock-Python. 

We  had  story-telling  assembles  this  week.  I 
had  the  class  tell  all  they  knew  of  the  Blue  Beard 
story.  We  had  not  read  it  in  class,  but  all  had 
heard  of  it  and  the  children  gave  various  versions. 
Among  the  stories  we  read  and  had  re-told  were 
"Baltan  and  the  Wolf"  and  "The  Half  Cock" 
from  "The  Christmas  Tales  of  Flanders,"  and 
"The  Selfish  Giant"  from  Oscar  Wilde's  "Happy 
Prince."  Among  the  poems  Kipling's  "Seal's 
Lullaby,"  and  Keats'  "I  stood  tip-toe  upon  a 


LITERATURE  123 

little  hill."  The  comic  verses  we  read  were  "The 
Turtle  and  the  Flamingo"  which  had  rollicking 
phrases  that  the  children  appreciated.  Four  out 
of  this  class  were  taken  into  the  rehearsals  of  the 
play. 

Group  III 

All  in  this  group  were  now  in  rehearsals  for  the 
play  "Odysseus  and  Penelope"  as  we  now  named 
it.  The  plot  of  the  play  was  worked  out,  and  the 
children  who  should  have  parts  were  fitted  in.  They 
had  first  to  understand  the  action  perfectly — the 
return  of  Odysseus,  the  meeting  with  Telemachus, 
the  slaying  of  the  suitors,  the  meeting  with  Pene- 
lope. In  consultation  with  Mr.  Coluzzi  I  gave  the 
parts — they  were  not  written  then — to  the  chil- 
dren who  were  to  play.  We  suggested  to  them 
the  appropriate  action  and  words.  Then  I  worked 
over  these  words  and  dictated  them  to  the  sten- 
ographer. In  this  way  the  children  were  given 
the  sense  that  they  were  participating  in  the  mak- 
ing as  well  as  in  the  acting  of  the  play. 

In  actual  studies  we  had  now  reached  a  stage 
in  which  the  children  were  all  able  to  create  some- 
thing for  themselves.  We  had  been  reading  Kip- 
ling's "Just-So  Stories,"  and  I  suggested  to  the 
class  that  they  should  make  up  stories  about  the 
animals  that  they  knew  in  the  place  around. 
Eleanor  and  Susanne  wrote  stories  on  the  themes 
suggested.  One  wrote  "How  the  Fox  got  white 
on  his  Tail,"  and  the  other  wrote  "How  the  Deer 
got  his  thin  Legs."  Eleanor's  was  an  unsophis- 
ticated folk-tale,  not  at  all  like  any  of  Kip- 
ling's, but  Susanne 's  was  sophisticated.  Dwight 


124  A   SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

and  Seymour  wrote  "How  the  Porcupine  got  his 
Quills"  and  "How  the  Bobcat  lost  his  Tail." 

THE  BOYS  OF  MARION 

Once  upon  a  time  there  were  three  boys  whose  names 
were  Jack  French,  James  Moody  and  Robert  Brown, 
"Frenchy,  Brownie,  and  Mood"  their  friends  all 
called  them.  They  lived  in  the  town  of  Marion,  N.  H. 
They  lived  near  Mount  Marion  and  one  morning 
Frenchy  said  "I'd  like  to  go  up  Mount  Marion  and 
camp  out  tonight  and  stay  all  the  rest  of  the  week. 

Mood  said  "Let's  go."  So  the  three  ran  straight 
home  and  asked  their  parents.  Their  parents  were 
willing  so  they  rolled  their  blankets  and  their  mother 
put  up  provisions  enough  to  last  a  week  and  the  too 
hathets  and  revolvers  and  provisions  and  packs  and 
started  for  Mount  Marion.  It  was  the  week  of  Fourth 
of  July  that  they  had  picked  out.  They  slept  on  the 
timber  line  the  first  night  the  second  night  was  the 
night  before  the  fourth  and  there  were  a  lot  of  bandits 
tomenting  the  man  in  the  lookout  station.  The  three 
boys  heard  the  noise  and  they  went  up  and  saw  that 
they  had  broken  the  man's  leg  so  Frenchy  took  out 
his  revolver  and  cried  "Hands  up."  The  bandits 
obeyed.  Frenchy  passed  Mood  his  revolver  and  said 
"You  and  Brownie  keep  these  Bandits  while  I  call 
the  police."  Frenchy.  called  the  police  and  in  about 
an  hour  the  police  came  up  and  took  the  bandits  and 
put  them  at  the  county  farm  for  a  term  of  20  years. 

The  next  day  their  folks  came  up  for  a  picnic  they 
told  them  what  they  had  done  and  their  folks  were 
glad  to  hear  it. 

DANE. 

DEACON  JONES'S  REWARD 

Once  upon  a  tune  there  were  a  lot  of  Bandits  in  town 
Patterson  under  a  chief  named  Black  Rolph.  These 
bandits  damaged  a  lot  of  farms  and  killed  children 
wrecked  trains  and  fixed  traps  so  when  a  horse  stepped 
on  it  it  would  break  the  horse's  leg. 


LITERATURE  125 

One  day  Deacon  Jones  was  coming  slowly  along 
with  a  load  of  hay  and  his  horse  was  pulling  hard. 

Black  Rolph  and  his  tribe  were  camping  near  there 
and  Rolph  said  "Boys  lets  have  some  fun  with  this 
old  codger  get  the  trap  Rob."  Rob  brought  the  trap 
out  and  as  Deacon  Jones  was  up  on  top  of  the  hay  he 
couldn't  see  much  that  was  going  on.  The  bandits  set 
the  trap  and  when  Deacon  Jones  came  along  and  of 
course  Old  Ned  his  horse  stepped  into  the  trap,  and 
fell  down  and  tipped  the  wagon  over  and  hay  was  all 
on  the  ground  and  Deacon  Jones  was  hurt  a  little  bit 
but  not  much.  All  the  bandits  were  hiding  but  so  they 
could  see  the  Deacon  when  he  tipped  over.  There  were 
two  of  the  bandits  that  had  just  got  into  the  tribe  and 
when  they  didn't  know  enough  not  to  laugh  and  one 
of  them  laughed  right  out  the  deacon  of  course  heard 
him  he  saw  one  of  them  and  he  knew  by  the  rough 
suit  he  had  on  that  he  was  a  bandit  and  so  when  he 
got  home  he  told  the  constable  and  the  constable  took 
six  men  with  him  and  they  got  the  tribe  of  Bandits 
and  took  them  to  the  county  jail.  The  next  day 
Deacon  Jones  got  five  hundred  dollars  from  the  state 
as  a  reward  to  any  one  who  could  find  out  where  these 
bandits  were  and  the  Deacons  picture  was  in  the 
"Boston  Globe"  the  next  day. 

HOW  THE  BOBCAT  LOST  ITS  TAIL 

Once  upon  a  time  there  was  a  bobcat  who  was  the 
terror  of  all  animals.  So  they  decided  to  have  a  great 
meeting.  Old  wise  Mr.  Bear  spoke  up  at  once.  He 
said,  "Why  do  we  not  cut  off  his  tail  he  prides  his 
tail  most?  They  all  agreed  this  plan  was  the  best. 
One  day  the  bobcat  was  walking  along  when  he  saw 
Reddy  Fox  walking  along  with  some  fish.  The  bob- 
cat asked  him  where  he  got  the  fish.  The  bobcat 
wanted  to  know  how  to  fish.  So  one  winter  day  the 
fox  took  the  bobcat  out  to  teach  him  how  to  fish.  He 
told  him  to  sit  down  on  the  ice.  The  bobcat  sat  down 
and  his  tail  froae  stiff  and  he  pulled  and  pulled  till  it 


126  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

broke  off  in  a  little  stub.    And  the  bobcat  slunk  away 
and  was  never  seen  again  for  a  long  time. 

SEYMOUR. 

HOW  THE  PORCKUPINE  GOT  HIS  QUILLS 

One  upon  a  time  the  Porckupine  lived  in  pine  trees. 
The  Porckupine  had  no  protection,  and  so  Porckupines 
were  mostly  killed  out,  when  quills  began  to  grow  at 
last  there  quills  looked  like  pine  needles  and  so  he  is 
camoflaged  very  well,  after  ceturys  the  porckupine  got 
sick  of  eating  pine  and  began  eating  pouplar  but  still 
he  is  camoflaged  for  the  pine  Tree,  but  now  can  curl 
up  in  a  ball  and  use  his  tail  for  a  sword 

DWIGHT. 

To  make  a  change  in  the  type  of  stories  we 
read  some  of  the  tales  in  Oscar  Wilde's  "The 
Happy  Prince."  "The  Fisherman  and  his  Soul" 
was  the  story  that  seemed  the  most  different  and 
the  most  curious  to  the  children.  We  did  not  read 
all  of  it.  The  older  children,  Harriet,  Ruth, 
Wayne,  Dwight,  were  the  most  eager  about  this 
story.  They  thought  there  was  poetry  in  the  de- 
scriptions. 

As  regards  poetry  I  wanted  to  find  out  how  far 
beauty  of  sound  and  phrase  appealed  to  the  class. 
I  had  them  read  "Arabia,"  and  "The  Dark 
Chateau"  from  Walter  de  la  Mare's  "The  Lis- 
teners." Suzanne  was  the  only  one  who  liked 
these  poems  for  their  qualities  of  music  and 
phrase. 

It  became  necessary  to  give  all  our  time  to  the 
preparation  for  the  play,  for  the  classes  were  now 
not  only  rehearsing,  but  making  the  costumes  and 
the  properties  for  "Odysseus  and  Penelope." 


LITERATURE  127 

Group  IV 

The  aim  during  this  last  week  of  teaching  was 
to  establish  a  very  free  communication  between 
teacher  and  students.  I  wanted  them  to  discuss 
with  me  any  literary  problems  they  thought  of  or 
that  happened  to  crop  up.  Edward  had  been 
reading  Walter  de  la  Mare's  poem  "The  Lis- 
teners," and  he  wanted  to  know  whether  it  was 
to  be  classed  as  a  ballad  or  as  a  lyric.  I  had  him 
read  poem  to  class.  They  perceived  that  it  was 
a  narrative  poem  although  it  was  not  a  story  of 
action  such  as  we  had  in  the  ballads — it  was  a 
story  of  a  dream-like  experience.  I  showed  the 
class  how  the  curious,  inexact  lines  th  the  poem 
added  to  the  dream-like  effect  of  the  whole.  Ed- 
ward and  Ivan  were  impressed  by  the  reading  of 
"The  Listeners,"  and  the  other  boys  showed  they 
were  greatly  interested  in  it. 

Keats'  "Ode  to  a  Nightingale"  was  read  and 
discussed.  We  compared  it  with  the  "Ode  to  the 
Skylark, ' '  dwelling  on  the  difference  of  rhythm  in 
the  poems — the  soaring  measure  and  warbling 
words  of  "The  Skylark,"  and  the  slower,  more 
introspective  movement  of  "The  Nightingale." 
We  were  now  coming  to  the  end  of  our  reading  of 
"The  Adventures  of  Odysseus,"  and  we  read  and 
discussed  the  sonnet  "On  First  Looking  into 
Chapman's  Homer."  I  explained  what  "Realms 
of  Gold"  meant — they  understood  the  references 
to  "Stout  Cortez"  and  "Watcher  of  the  Skies." 
I  showed  them  how  apt  the  reference  was  to  Chap- 
man speaking  out  loud  and  bold  by  repeating  the 
opening  of  Chapman's  version  of  "The  Iliad." 


128  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

Another  poem  arising  out  of  the  Homeric  story 
was  Tennyson's  "Ulysses."  We  discussed  in 
the  class  the  question  whether  Homer's  Odysseus 
would  have  spoken  in  the  way  that  Tennyson's 
Ulysses  spoke.  The  class  felt  that  there  was  a  dif- 
ference between  the  two  characters,  but  they  were 
unable  to  explain  in  what  the  difference  lay. 
They  noticed  that  Tennyson  represented  Ulysses 
as  having  his  ancient  mariners  within  call, 
whereas  Homer  showed  Odysseus  as  coming  to 
Ithaka  having  lost  all  his  men. 

We  had  a  lesson  showing  how  the  sonnet  was 
formed.  I  got  the  class  to  write  certain  sonnets 
down  from  my  dictation,  marking  the  lines  as 
they  wrote  them  "quatrain,"  "octave,"  "sestet," 
"couplet."  In  this  way  we  made  a  clear  com- 
parison between  the  Shakespearean  and  the  Ital- 
ian sonnet — between  "Shall  I  Compare  Thee  to  a 
Summer's  Day"  and  "On  First  Looking  into 
Chapman's  Homer."  The  writing  down  of  the 
sonnets,  the  realization  of  the  difference  between 
the  octave  and  the  sestet  and  the  arrangement  of 
the  rhymes  made  the  class  interested  in  the  work- 
manship. From  this  technical  interest  a  boy  like 
Richard  N.,  who  was  cool  and  practical,  passed 
over  to  an  interest  in  the  sonnet  as  an  expression 
of  mood  or  feeling. 

Later  in  the  week  we  came  to  read  lyrics  and 
dramatic  poetry.  I  explained  to  the  class  what  a 
lyric  is — a  short  and  simple  poem  expressing  an 
emotion  that  one  feels  personally;  I  explained 
that  the  lyric  does  not  set  out  to  tell  a  story  as 
a  ballad  does  nor  to  be  gorgeous  as  an  ode  is. 
We  then  read  Poe's  "Helen."  Billy  asked  if  this 


LITERATURE  129 

was  not  really  an  ode  seeing  that  it  was  addressed 
to  some  one — was  it  not  really  an  ode  to  Helen? 
The  class  discussed  this  point.  I  showed  that  the 
poet  was  more  concerned  with  his  own  feelings 
than  he  was  with  bringing  out  any  of  the  beauties 
of  Helen,  and  that  this  concern  made  the  differ- 
ence between  the  lyric  and  the  ode.  We  read 
Blake's  " Sunflower, "  and  "The  Rose  Tree/' 
After  coming  to  these  from  "The  Ode  to  the 
Nightingale"  the  class  found  them  rather  empty. 
Afterwards  we  read  Landor's  "Rose  Aylmer" 
and  Thomas  Love  Peacock's  "Grave  of  Love," 
both  poems  about  death  and  loss.  The  class  got 
the  sense  of  beauty  of  language  and  sentiment  in 
these  lyrics. 

The  later  lessons  were  concerned  with  dramatic 
poetry.  Dramatic  poetry  arose  out  of  situation. 
If  Richard  N.  were  condemned  to  death  what  he 
would  say  in  that  situation  would  be  dramatic ;  if 
a  poet  put  himself  into  Richard's  feelings  he 
would  make  dramatic  poetry. 

The  dramatic  poetry  that  we  studied  was  from 
Shelley's  "Prometheus  Unbound.''  Told  class 
of  the  Prometheus  myth.  First  read  to  the  class 
the  opening  speech  of  Prometheus  explaining  cer- 
tain phrases  and  references.  Had  Edward  re- 
read same  speech  drawing  his  and  the  class's  at- 
tention to  Shelley's  choice  of  words.  Showed 
them  how  different  "Sleep-unsheltered  hours" 
was  from  "sleepless  hours"  and  so  with  other 
memorable  phrases.  The  class  already  knew 
something  of  Greek  myth  through  Homer.  They 
sympathized  with  the  situation  of  Prometheus 
and  were  quite  impressed  by  the  poetry.  They 


130  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

were  able  to  make  a  comparison  between  Shelley's 
blank  verse  and  the  blank  verse  of  Matthew 
Arnold's  "Sohrab  and  Kustum."  The  fact  that 
plays  were  now  in  rehearsal  helped  the  class 
towards  a  more  certain  realization  of  what  dra- 
matic poetry  was. 

Ivan  was  now  drawn  into  the  comedy  and  Ed- 
ward into  the  play  about  Odysseus.  From  this 
time  on,  rehearsals  took  the  place  of  regular  les- 
sons. 


MUSIC 


MUSIC 
I 

BY  ELSA  CAMPBELL 

THE  purpose  of  this  department  has  been  to 
awaken  and  stimulate  the  musical  instinct  in  a 
way  to  bring  forth  self-expression  and  self -devel- 
opment, to  touch  the  inner  consciousness  of  every 
child  and  develop  creative  ability.  The  children 
are  taught  to  hear  inwardly,  rhythmically,  me- 
lodically,  harmonically,  and  to  think,  if  possible, 
in  terms  of  music.  After  their  feeling  has  been 
aroused  by  listening,  they  are  led  to  express  them- 
selves through  the  improvisation  and  singing  of 
songs  and  their  own  dance  interpretations,  until 
music  comes  in  a  measure  to  be  a  language  that 
is  really  their  own,  and  their  relation  to  it  a  real 
thing,  informal  and  natural.  The  classes  were 
divided  into  groups  of  five  or  six  pupils  each. 

Group  III 

AIM:  To  arouse  interest  of  the  group  and  to 
find  out  what  they  most  needed,  was  the  work  of 
this  first  day. 

METHOD:  We  talked  a  little  about  music,  and 
they  were  much  interested  in  a  discussion  as  to 
where  all  music  came  from.  Then  I  played  some- 
thing on  the  piano  and  they  saw  that  it  did  not 

133 


134  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

all  come  from  the  throat.  After  various  other 
suggestions,  such  as  "the  violin,"  "the  bugle," 
etc.,  I  asked  one  of  the  boys  to  sing  a  melody  to 
some  words  that  I  suggested,  something  that  he 
had  never  heard  before.  He  did,  and  when  I 
asked  where  that  melody  had  come  from,  Wayne 
suddenly  said,  "It  comes  from  inside  of  us." 
They  all  agreed  that  we  have  to  hear  the  music 
inside  before  we  can  play  or  sing  it.  We  talked 
of  the  rhythm  or  swing  of  music  after  I  had 
played  something  for  them  to  listen  to.  When  I 
asked  them  what  things  in  nature  moved  in 
rhythm,  one  boy  said,  "The  seasons,"  one  sug- 
gested the  stars,  and  one  said,  "The  earth's  swing 
makes  day  and  night."  We  sang  patriotic  airs, 
as  they  were  the  only  songs  that  all  the  boys  knew. 


Group  I 

AIM:  Dancing,  swinging,  clapping,  and  walk- 
ing to  Folk  tunes. 

METHOD:  Sang  "London  Bridge"  and  "Pretty 
Little  Blue  Bird"  with  great  joy.  Each  child  had 
a  different  way  of  expressing  (on  the  board)  the 
pitch  of  the  tones  that  I  played  or  sang.  Some 

drew  lines,  others  dots,  some  short  dashes 

/=: 

RESPONSE  :    They  were  most  responsive. 

Later  they  drew  what  we  call  pitch  pictures — 
a  line  following  the  "up  or  down"  of  a  melody. 
Still  always  singing,  the  children  learned  the  feel- 
ing for  key. 


MUSIC  135 

Group  I 

AIM:  To  develop  a  sense  of  tonality  or  key. 
To  feel  the  home  tone,  the  tone  which  represents 
home,  the  goal  of  all  the  other  tones. 

METHOD:  Sang  and  played  extremely  simple 
melodies,  such  as  C,  D,  E,  D,  C,  leaving  off  the 
end  tone  and  listening  to  see  if  any  child  would 
sing  it.  Sophie  did  the  first  time.  The  others  did 
it  later.  Then  I  played  and  sang  little  tunes  that 
they  were  familiar  with,  stopping  before  the  last 
tone  to  see  if  they  would  sing  it  "home." 

RESPONSE.    They  also  sang  and  danced  as  usual. 

NOTE. — The  question  of  rhythm  and  tonality  was 
worked  out  in  this  way  as  well  as  other  ways  in  the  dif- 
ferent groups.  For  instance,  in  one  group  we  played 
scales  both  up  and  down,  leaving  the  last,  or  home,  tone 
for  children  to  sing.  Also  had  one  child  start  melody 
and  another  finish  it. 

The  children  at  the  end  of  the  few  weeks  had  developed 
in  a  very  interesting  way  in  rhythm,  pitch,  the  feeling 
for  key,  and  in  their  freedom  and  joy  in  singing  their 
own  melodies.  Group  I,  July  13  and  August  15. 

Group  I 

AIM:  To  sing  a  new  song  and  as  always  to 
help  them  through  the  work  to  feel  the  rhythm 
and  pitch. 

METHOD:  Sang  their  favorite  songs  as  they 
were  asked  for,  dancing,  swinging,  or  clapping 
them.  For  a  new  song  we  had  "Baa,  Baa,  Black 
Sheep. "  I  played  it  through  first  for  them  to 
hear  the  melody  and  get  the  swing.  We  then 
learned  the  words.  As  usual  the  children  asked 
to  act  them,  which  they  did  before  singing  it.  We 
then  sang  the  song,  clapped  and  danced  it.  With- 


136  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

out  saying  anything  I  played  "Soldiers'  March" 
by  Rebikoff,  and  after  listening  intently  Alvin  got 
up  and  began  marching  about  to  the  music.  Doris 
soon  joined  him  in  perfect  rhythm.  I  then 
changed  to  a  waltz  and  they  swung  into  the 
rhythm  of  that.  I  also  played  Grieg's  "Elfin 
Tanz."  They  were  very  quiet.  Doris,  with 
hands  clasped,  swayed  in  rhythm,  eyes  large.  I 
spoke,  and  she  said, "  Oh,  don't  talk ;  they  will  hear 
you."  I  said,  "Who  will  hear  me,  Doris?"  Doris 
said,  "The  little  people  dancing."  Alvin  and 
Doris  both  made  very  good  pitch  pictures  of  little 
melodies. 

RESPONSE  :  Doris  and  Alvin  were  the  only  ones 
in  class.  They  were  interested.  Busy  twenty-five 
minutes. 


AIM:    See  former  reports. 

METHOD  :  I  asked  the  children  if  they  had  any 
songs  that  made  them  feel  like  marching  when 
they  sang  them.  Doris  said,  "The  King  of 
France."  Alvin  immediately  spoke  up,  "Baa, 
Baa,  Black  Sheep."  Doris  again  spoke  with  "I 
see  a  soldier  marching,"  and  Phoebe  said,  "Cob- 
bler, Cobbler,  mend  my  shoe."  They  were  right 
in  every  case.  We  sang  all  these  songs,  and  the 
children  marched  or  not  as  they  wished.  Doris, 
"Now  we  want  a  song  to  dance."  I  asked  them 
what  songs  made  them  want  to  dance.  There  were 
several  suggestions, — "Lavenders  Blue,"  "Did 
you  ever  see  a  Lassie?"  and  some  others,  which 
we  sang.  Doris  and  Alvin  made  some  good  pitch 
pictures. 


MUSIC  137 

RESPONSE:  Perkins  and  Phoebe  showed  less 
interest  than  the  others.  Phoebe,  if  she  can  be  the 
centre  of  things  or  have  the  most  important  part, 
is  keenly  alive,  but  otherwise  shows  no  interest. 
She  has  no  group  spirit. 

The  older  groups  have  developed  not  only  on 
the  rhythmic  and  melodic  side,  but  also  on  the 
harmonic.  They  can  inwardly  hear,  sing,  write, 
harmonize,  and  transpose  a  melody. 

Stenographic  Record  of  Group  II 

(All  take  places  at  board,  and  Miss  C.  plays 
while  children  draw.) 
Miss  C.    What  are  you  drawing! 
CYNTHIA.     Duration  pictures. 
Miss  C.    What  does  a  duration  picture  meant 
CYNTHIA.    Whether  the  tone  is  long  or  short. 


J  iJ  j3j  nJ  Jr  r  'r 


Miss  C.  I  should  like  to  have  you  sing  this  for 
me.  (Cynthia  sings  air.)  Now  everybody  make 
a  pitch  picture.  (Plays.)  What  does  pitch  pic- 
ture mean,  Elizabeth! 

ELIZABETH.  It  means  to  show  whether  the 
tones  go  up  or  down.  (Draws.) 

(Cynthia  draws.) 

(Barbara  draws.) 


138  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

Miss  C.  Do  it  with  your  hands  in  the  air,  Bar- 
bara. (Draws  again.) 

CYNTHIA.    Is  this  right? 

Miss  C.  Do  you  think  the  first  one  sounds  like 
the  next  phrase!  (Sings  it.)  (Cynthia  draws 
again.)  I  will  sing  it  and  you  take  your  chalk 


and  draw  along  your  pitch  picture  while  I  sing. 
(Cynthia  sings  and  draws  again.)  Now,  sing  it 
with  me. 


(All  sing.)  What  is  the  home  tone  of  it,  Barbara! 
Sing  it  for  me  again.  I  want  somebody  to  tell 
me  the  name  of  that  tone! 

ELIZABETH.    F. 

Miss  C.    Do  you  agree  with  her,  Cynthia! 

CYNTHIA.    Yes. 

Miss  C.    Do  you,  Barbara! 

BARBARA.    Yes. 

Miss  C.  Then  the  name  of  the  home  tone  is  F. 
Let  us  sing  the  scale  with  F  as  the  home  tone. 

CYNTHIA.  Let  me.  (Sings  scale,  naming 
tones.) 

Miss  C.  Will  some  one  sing  a  scale  song  with 
words! 

ELIZABETH.  (Sings.)  The  birds  are  singing  all 
the  day,  up  and  down  the  way. 


MUSIC  139 

Miss  C.  What  was  the  matter  with  Elizabeth's 
scale  song? 

CYNTHIA.     It  didn't  have  a  swing. 

ELIZABETH.  (Sings  again.)  The  birds  are 
singing  all  the  day. 

Miss  C.  Did  that  have  a  good  swing?  (Plays 
it.)  It  had  a  splendid  swing. 

ELIZABETH.     (Sings.)    In  the  trees  so  far  away. 

CYNTHIA.    In  the  green  trees  so  full  of  spray. 

Miss  C.  Now,  let's  sing  it  going  down.  (Eliza- 
beth sings  it  going  up  and  Miss  C.  going  down.) 

BARBARA.  (Sings.)  My  fish  are  swimming  all 
around,  because  they  can't  walk  on  the  ground. 

CHILDREN.    You  have  heard  that. 

Miss  C.  Yes,  but  nobody  has  thought  of  sing- 
ing it  before  today.  Who  knows  another? 

ELIZABETH.  My  kitty's  fur  is  soft  as  silk. 
When  I  have  dinner  she  has  milk. 

BARBARA.  I  saw  a  soldier  marching.  I  saw  him 
on  the  bridge  marching. 

Miss  C.    Did  that  have  a  good  swing? 

CHILDREN.    No.    No. 

Miss  C.  Perhaps  we  can  help  Barbara.  Per- 
haps we  can  make  it  into  a  good  swing.  (Sings.) 
I  saw  a  soldier  marching  by.  Now  who  will  sing 
it  down? 

BARBARA.    I  have  another  one. 

Miss  C.  But  don't  you  think  you  could  sing 
the  same  one  and  make  it  swing?  I  think  we 
ought  to  be  able  to. 

ELIZABETH.  (Sings.)  And  then  he  gave  a 
sigh. 

Miss  C.  (Sings.)  And  then  he  came  back  on 
the  fly. 


140  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

ELIZABETH.  (Sings.)  When  he  came  back  he 
had  a  sore  eye. 

Miss  C.  Now,  who  can  sing  the  melody  that  I 
played  when  we  drew  a  picture  on  the  board? 
(Cynthia  sings.)  Is  Cynthia  singing  the  same 
melody  that  I  played? 

CHILDREN.    No.    No.    (Miss  C.  plays  it  again.) 

CYNTHIA.    That  is  it.    I  meant  that.     (Sings.) 

Miss  C.  I  should  like  you  to  all  sing  that  and 
walk  it  while  I  play  it.  (They  do.)  What  are 
you  doing  it  for? 

ELIZABETH.     To  get  the  big  swing. 

Miss  C.    What  do  you  mean  by  that? 

ELIZABETH.     To  get  the  rhythm  ? 

Miss  C.  Yes.  Now  let's  all  sing  that  and  walk 
it.  (They  do.)  Now,  I  should  like  to  have  you  all 
step  it.  What  do  we  step  it  for? 

CYNTHIA.  To  get  the  long  and  short  tones. 
(All  step  while  Miss  C.  plays.) 

Miss  C.  Now,  who  will  draw  me  a  picture  of 
that  on  the  board?  (Cynthia  draws.)  (All  go  to 
board  and  draw.) 

Miss  C.    Let 's  sing  it  again  and  draw.   (Sings.) 

CYNTHIA.  Go  slower  and  I  will  do  it  with  you. 
(Sings.)  (Cynthia  draivs.) 


Miss  C.  Now  I  should  like  to  have  you  put  the 
bar  lines  in.  How  can  you  tell  where  to  put  the 
bar  lines? 

CYNTHIA.    By  the  swing. 

Miss  C.  When  we  sing,  what  do  we  always 
find, — that  there  is  one  place  that  has 

CYNTHIA.    A  strong  swing. 


MUSIC 


141 


Miss  C.    And  then  we  put  in 

CYNTHIA.    The  bar. 

ELIZABETH.    Let's  sing  it. 

(Elizabeth  draws  and  puts  in  bars.  Barbara 
sings  and  points  to  hers  as  she  sings.) 

Miss  C.  Let's  all  look  at  Cynthia's  and  see  if 
we  agree  with  her  bar  lines.  Let's  all  swing  it. 

(They  sing  and  swing.) 

Miss  C.  Now  we  will  take  this  melody  and  do 
the  rest  tomorrow  morning  and  change  our  lines 
to  note  values. 

Group  II 

AIM  :    To  work  on  some  original  melodies. 

METHOD:  The  children  each  sang  an  original 
melody.  They  made  pitch  pictures,  duration  pic- 
tures of  these  songs,  sang  the  home  tones,  found 
them  on  the  piano.  They  walked  them  and 
stepped  them  for  rhythm  and  duration.  I  then 
played  some  chords  while  they  sang  roots.  I  next 
played  a  melody,  then  asked  the  children  to  sing 
it  and  make  a  duration  picture. 

EESPONSE:    Joanne  sang  this  melody, — 


J  iJ"j  i  J 


"I   love  you,  I    love  you,  I    love  you." 


I  asked  who  could  sing  Joanne's  melody,  and  one 
of  the  girls  sang  this,  — 


"I   love  you,  I   love  you,  I    love  your 


142  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

Joanne  said:  "No,  that  isn't  the  way  I  heard  it. 
The  rubber  didn't  sing  it  that  way.  You  pull  a 
piece  of  rubber  and  let  it  go  and  it  makes  a  sound 
like  this."  She  then  made  a  sound  (sliding)  that 
a  rubber  band  does  when  stretched  and  relaxed. 
"You  must  slide  down  the  notes  like  the  rubber 
when  you  say  love." 

As  soon  as  rhythm  is  realized  and  melody  be- 
comes a  natural  means  of  expression,  harmoniza- 
tion may  be  taken  up.  Note  report  of  Groups  II 
A  and  B,  July  16  :— 

Group  II 

AIM  :  The  new  point  is  the  chord.  As  soon  as 
melody  becomes  a  natural  means  of  expression 
and  rhythm  is  realized,  harmonization  may  be 
brought  up. 

METHOD:  Inward  hearing  is  again  the  root  of 
this  problem.  The  unity  of  melody,  harmony,  and 
rhythm  exists  in  the  mind,  because  as  soon  as  a 
melody  is  heard  and  sung,  its  harmony  is  invari- 
ably heard  also.  The  question  is  how  to  make 
the  child  understand  this  clearly.  Start  again 
with  listening. 

With  Group  II  A,  played  one  of  the  tunes  given 
by  children  and  asked  them  to  sing  the  "rest" 
tone.  I  then  asked  them  to  listen  for  other  tones 
that  sing  with  it.  They  closed  their  eyes  the  bet- 
ter to  listen  and  Joanne  sang  the  dominant,  or 
V,  and  Elizabeth  sang  the  III.  This  does  not 
always  come  so  soon.  In  case  they  cannot  hear 
the  tones  that  sing  with  the  root,  I  play  the  triad 
and  have  them  listen  to  it  as  a  thing  of  beauty. 


MUSIC 


143 


By  numbering  the  notes  of  the  scale  the  chord  be- 
comes familiar.  Children  can  learn  to  sing  I, 
III,  V,  i.e.,  the  triad,  more  easily  than  by  think- 
ing the  names  of  the  notes  or  even  of  the  sol  fa 
syllables.  The  children  in  this  group  sang  origi- 
nal melodies,  made  pitch  and  duration  pictures  of 
them,  and  also  sang  a  new  song,  "The  Clovers." 
The  children  in  Group  II  B  could  easily  hear  and 
sing  the  I,  III,  V,  or  triad,  from  any  root.  I 
played  triads  at  random  and  asked  them  to  sing 
the  tone  that  sounds  most  important  (the  root). 
I  then  played  a  simple  melody  and  asked  them 
to  sing  the  tone  they  heard,  singing  with  G,  or 
Do.  They  sang  the  octave.  I  played  the  rest  of 
the  melody  and  they  sang  under  it. 


2 


3=£3 


* 


* 


RESPONSE  :  They  sing  and  have  some  rhythmic 
work  each  morning.  B  was  interested  in  singing 
under  the  melody  and  singing  the  roots.  This 
takes  unusual  concentration. 

At  the  end  of  the  twelve  weeks  the  children  in 
Group  II  were  able  to  work  out  an  original 
melody  in  this  way. 

Group  II 

AIM  :  To  work  out  an  original  melody,  rhythm, 
pitch,  duration,  harmonization. 

METHOD:    Janet  sang  the  first  melody,  and  as 


144  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

they  all  liked  it  so  much  we  used  it  to  work  out. 
The  children  sang  it  after  Janet,  swung  and 
stepped  it,  made  a  duration  picture  on  board. 
They  sang  the  home  tone,  found  it  on  piano 
(G-flat).  Picked  out  the  E-flat  scale  on  piano. 
Another  child  played  Janet's  melody,  while  others 
sang  the  harmony.  They  were  delighted  to  find 
that  they  could  sing  under  it  all,  as  it  would  be 
harmonized  with  the  chords  that  they  are  very 
familiar  with,  the  tonic  I  and  the  dominant  V. 
One  of  the  children  then  found  the  tonic  chord  on 
piano,  another  the  dominant,  or  V.  One  child  then 
played  the  melody  and  another  the  chords.  They 
transposed  this  on  piano.  Keys  of  D  and  C. 


"Where  the  bee  sucks,  there  suck  I 
In  a  cowslip's  bell  I  lie." 

RESPONSE  :  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Janet 
so  far  has  always  sung  in  the  key  of  G-flat. 

It  is  very  difficult  to  put  on  paper  anything  so 
subtle  as  what  has  taken  place  in  the  children  in 
these  weeks. 


MUSIC 

ii 

BY  ERNEST  BLOCH 
FOREWORD 

THE  following  notes  should  be  considered  as 
simple  observations  based  on  my  experience  of 
two  months  at  the  Peterborough  School.  They 
have  no  "  scientific "  pretension,  nor  do  they  estab- 
lish a  "new"  method  of  musical  education.  Fur- 
thermore, one  cannot  too  often  repeat,  at  a  time 
when  people  are  so  easily  infatuated  by  what  ap- 
pears new,  whatever  its  value,  that  the  new  (or  the 
seemingly  new)  is  not  necessarily  good  or  com- 
mendable. 

The  great  masters  of  the  past,  Josquin  de  Pres, 
Palestrina,  Vittoria,  Orlando  di  Lasso,  Monte- 
verde,  Bach,  Beethoven,  Wagner,  and  others,  lived 
in  a  time  when  people  were  a  little  less  concerned 
than  they  are  nowadays  in  reforming  humanity 
and  in  establishing  new  artistic  theories  and  revo- 
lutionary methods  of  education.  Their  splendid 
works  are  alive,  however,  with  a  vitality  entirely 
different  from  those  of  today.  They  have  a  style, 
a  force,  a  grandeur,  an  originality,  that  one  would 
search  for  in  vain  among  the  majority  of  hybrid 
cerebral  and  fabricated  works  of  today. 

As  it  is  obvious  that  sensibility,  taste,  and 

145 


146  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

creative  force  cannot  be  acquired,  artistic  educa- 
tion must  limit  itself  modestly  to  the  study  of  tech- 
nique, and  the  stimulation  of  the  latent  emotional 
faculties  of  the  pupils.  Let  me  admit  at  once  that 
I  do  not  believe  in  the  efficacy  of  books  on  music, 
treatises  on  harmony,  or  counterpoint,  and  all 
these  scholastic  and  lifeless  rules  which  are  used 
in  the  official  schools.  These  things  are  on  the  bor- 
der, only,  of  true  art,  and  of  life.  On  the  contrary, 
the  deep  and  assiduous  study  of  the  great  works 
of  all  times  seems  to  me  indispensable  to  anyone 
who  wishes  to  have  a  thorough  knowledge  of  any 
art,  music  especially.  It  is  the  only  way  to  pene- 
trate the  inner  sanctuary.  To  help  a  child  to  ac- 
quire the  means  to  undertake  this  pilgrimage,  to 
teach  him  to  listen,  observe  and  judge,  seems  to  me 
the  only  aim  of  a  sensible  musical  education. 

"In  the  beginning  was  rhythm,"  said  H.  von 
Billow.  I  believe  that  the  first  instruction  should 
be  directed  to  the  acquisition  of  rhythm  above 
everything.  To  make  the  child  realize  the  neces- 
sity of  setting  limits  on  time,  of  placing  milestones 
in  accordance  with  our  own  limitation,  seems  to 
me  essential.  I  have  started,  therefore,  with  the 
study  of  measure  in  order  to  arrive  at  that  of 
rhythm,  which  is  first  an  instinctive,  then  an  intel- 
lectual, process. 

The  other  elements  of  irregularity  which  then 
follow,  breaking  by  contrast  this  too  rigid  uni- 
formity, give  to  musical  speech  all  its  value,  its 
expression,  its  emotion,  its  pathetic  accent.  The 
children  (the  most  gifted  ones,  at  least),  were  able 
at  the  end  of  these  two  months  to  grasp  the  idea 
of  rhythm,  and  therefore  to  understand  the  divi- 


MUSIC  147 

sion  into  periods  and  phrases  of  musical  speech, 
taking  for  their  field  the  study  of  folk-melodies, 
some  of  which  were  most  difficult  to  analyse.  This 
is  already  the  study  of  form  and  aesthetics.  With- 
out the  aid  of  any  rule  or  book  the  children 
reached  the  stage  of  understanding  the  relentless 
logic  of  musical  construction.  Their  instinct  was 
awakened  and  their  minds  began  to  reflect,  to  ana- 
lyse, and  to  judge. 

Among  the  thirty  or  forty  children  whom  I  have 
been  able  to  observe  this  summer,  only  a  small 
minority  were  musically  gifted,  as  the  readers  of 
my  records  can  see.  It  was  this  minority  only  that 
I  should  really  have  liked  to  work  with,  if  our 
studies  had  gone  on.  I  should  then  have  applied 
the  same  method  to  the  study  of  intonation,  inter- 
vals and  melody,  which  I  have  only  sketched  in 
these  lessons,  and  these  gifted  children  would  have 
been  quickly  schooled  to  undertake  the  study  of 
two-part  counterpoint,  which  in  my  opinion  ought, 
historically  and  logically,  to  precede  that  of  har- 
mony. 

I  have  often  taken  my  examples  from  among 
the  works  of  the  masters.  It  is  well  from  the 
beginning  to  awaken  in  the  child  a  feeling  for 
beauty;  he  must  understand  before  everything, 
that  musical  studies  are  only  a  means,  and  he  must 
see  as  much  as  possible  the  real  end — love  of  Art. 
One  must  also  remember  that  many  are  called  but 
few  are  chosen,  that  the  creative  genius  is  most 
rare,  and  that  the  great  interpreters,  the  priests 
of  Art,  are  almost  as  rare. 

Musical  education  should  hope  above  everything 
to  develop  qualities  of  appreciation,  judgment, 


148  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

and  taste,  and  should  aim  at  making  people  sus- 
ceptible to  feeling,  understanding,  and  loving 
music. 

One  must  not  forget  the  words  of  Oscar  Wilde : 
"  Education  is  an  admirable  thing,  but  one  must 
remember  from  time  to  time  that  everything  that 
is  worth  knowing  cannot  be  taught. " 

DAILY  RECORDS 
Groups  I,  II,  III,  IV* 

AIM:  To  awaken  and  stimulate  the  emotional 
and  imaginative  side  of  the  children,  the  faculty 
of  observation  and  discrimination  and  analysis. 
To  have  a  general  talk  on : 

1.  Music  as  a  means  of  expression   (essence 
itself  of  music). 

2.  The  elements  of  music  (rhythm  and  sound). 
METHOD  AND  KESPONSE:     (Using  the  piano  and 

violin). 

1.  Played  two  French  folk  songs  of  different 
character.    One:  a  slow,  sad  tune,  expressing  all 
the  poetic  mystery  of  the  sea  and  its  waving 
rhythm.    The  other  was  gay  and  rapid. 

2.  Asked  the  children  if  they  felt  the  difference 
between  the  two,  and  why.    They  felt  the  differ- 
ence but  could  not  express  it. 

3.  Played  on  the  violin,  low  G   (IV  string), 
along  sustained  note  without  rhythm.     I  then 
asked  the  children  if  I  had  played  them  a  short 
composition.    They  laughed  and  I  asked  them  why 
they  laughed.    They  replied  that  it  was  the  same 
note. 

*  To  avoid  repetitions,  reports  of  certain  groups  have  been 
omitted  when  the  work  done  was  identical  with  that  of  other 
groups. 


MUSIC  149 

Group  II 

AIM:  The  same  as  Group  III — Observation 
and  discrimination  by  analogy.  Tried  to  show 
the  children  that  the  essential  laws  of  rhythm  are 
the  same  in  art  as  in  life.  Physical  laws,  later 
psychological  ones. 

METHOD  :  Tried  to  show  them  the  two  elements 
of  rhythmical  motion  in  life,  such  as 

(1)  (1) 

that  which  is  outside     day  and  night,  seasons, 
of  us  tides,  rise  and  fall 

(2)  (2) 

that  which  is  inside    heart,   respiration   and 
of  our  body  expiration,    rhythm    of 

walking. 

I  then  showed  them  the  difference  between  the 
strong  and  weak  beats  (up  beat  and  down  beat). 
I  explained  the  force  and  greater  stress  of  the 
beat  of  accomplishment  in  contrast  to  the  beat  of 
preparation.  I  brought  their  attention  to  the 
force  of  gravity.  I  dropped  my  hat  and  other 
objects.  To  explain  the  up-beat  and  to  show  the 
necessity  for  preparation,  I  took  a  hammer  and  a 
nail,  and  gave  as  an  example  the  run  before  a 
jump. 

Stenographic  Record  of  Groups  I  and  II 

MR.  B.  Is  there  a  child  among  you  who  will  go 
to  the  blackboard  and  show  me  what  I  have  done 
just  now? 


150  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

PUPIL  LUCIENNE.    I  can.    (Goes  to  blackboard.) 
MB.  B.    When  I  do  this?    (Sounds  a  long  note 
— then  short  repeated  notes.) 

(Pupil  writes  only  long  line.), 

P.    She  is  making  a  mistake. 

ANOTHER.    She  is  not  right. 

IST  P.    I  know  what  she  is  doing. 

P.     (At  board.)    I  know  what  my  mistake  is. 

T.  You  know?  Go  and  change  it.  Here  is 
what  I  played.  (One  long  note.  Then  began  to 
make  separate  notes.) 

P.     (Writes  short  dashes  on  the  board.) 

T.  Now  she  does  it  correctly.  That  is  good. 
Now  try  to  express  this  idea.  (Plays  do,  re,  do, 
re.) 

P.     (Draws.)  ^— -,~  -  -  „ 

T.    Who  can  show  this  in  a  different  way? 

P.     (Draws.)  r. 

T.  Very  good.  Is  there  anyone  who  can  show 
this  in  a  still  different  way? 


T.  Very  good.  Who  can  explain  to  me  the  dif- 
ference between  this and ? 

P.  You  stopped  in  the  first  and  didn't  stop  in 
the  second. 


MUSIC  151 

T.  And  what  did  I  do  here 
P.  You  went  up  and  down. 
T.  And  here 


P.    Up  and  down. 

T.  Can  you  find  something  that  will  express 
the  idea  of  alternation?  Let's  look  at  the  piano. 
You  see  black,  white,  black,  white.  Now  in  the  big 
world,  where  can  you  see  this  ? 

P.    Green,  blue,  white. 

T.  No,  I  mean  the  difference,  the  alteration. 
What  comes  after  day  ? 

P.    Night. 

T.  So  we  have  day,  night,  day,  night.  Mention 
some  other  things. 

P.    Summer,  winter. 

T.  Yes,  the  seasons.  Now  in  your  body.  Your 
inspiration  and  expiration.  Breathing  in  and  out. 
Who  can  show  this  on  the  blackboard? 

P.      A  A  A 

T.    Why   did   you    do    it    so?     Why   not    so 

k.y  v  V 

P.    Because  we  breathe  up  and  then  down. 

T.  Suppose  we  have  to  drive  a  hammer  onto 
a  nail,  how  do  we  do  it? 

P.    First  up  and  then  down. 

T.  Suppose  I  hold  up  this  hat  and  let  it  go, 
what  will  happen?  It  will  fall,  will  it  not? 

P.    An  aeroplane  wouldn't  fall. 


152  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

T.  Yes,  but  if  there  is  no  more  motion,  it  must 
fall.  In  music  it  is  the  same.  We  have  to  make 
the  same  divisions  of  sounds  because  if  we  do  not 
make  it  we  have  an  unbroken  line.  There  must 
be  up  and  down.  (Plays  do,  re,  do,  re).  That  is 
up  and  this  is  down.  Who  can  tell  how  we  do  it 
when  walking? 

P.    (Walks  across  the  platform  in  time  with 
the  music.) 

T.  Which  are  the  strong  blows  with  the  ham- 
mer? 

P.    Down. 

T.  So  in  music.  The  first  division  is  this  (up, 
down,  up,  down).  There  will  be  a  stronger  note. 
This  is  called  a  strong  beat.  In  the  same  way  we 
have  day,  night,  day,  night.  Who  can  tell  me 
where  is  the  strong  beat?  Up  or  down? 

P.    Down. 

T.  Now  come  and  show  me  with  your  hand 
weak  and  strong. 

LUCEENNE.     (Moves  hand  upward.)    Weak. 

(Moves  hand  downward.)    Strong. 

T.  Now  I  will  play  a  little  song  for  children. 
The  mother  is  trying  to  put  the  baby  to  sleep. 
She  is  rocking  the  baby  and  makes  the  motion  up 
and  down  and  this  is  shown  in  the  music.  (Plays 
a  lullaby.)  Here  we  see  there  is  something  weak 
and  something  strong.  The  strong  beat  will 
always  come  at  the  end.  When  I  am  walking  I 
stop  so — (both  legs  on  the  ground),  and  not  so — 
(one  leg  still  in  the  air). 

Now  who  can  play  a  little  on  the  piano?  You 
go  to  the  piano  and  I  shall  play  a  note  on  the  violin 
and  you  try  to  find  the  same  note  on  the  piano. 


MUSIC  153 

(Plays  note  on  the  violin  and  pupil  finds  note  after 
a  few  attempts.  Others  do  the  same.) 

Group  III 

AIM:  To  show  and  to  have  the  children  feel 
the  necessity  of  rhythm,  and  the  necessity  of  a 
beginning  and  of  an  end.  Our  understanding  be- 
ing circumscribed  by  limits  of  time  and  space,  we 
must  have  a  division  apparent  to  our  senses. 

METHOD  AND  RESPONSE:  Continuation  of  the 
preliminary  study  of  the  measure.  Going  back  to 
the  example  of  the  long  note  on  the  violin,  I  re- 
played it  but  gave  it  different  rhythms.  Proceed- 
ing by  analogy,  I  went  to  the  board,  having  said  to 
the  children  that  I  was  going  to  make  a  beautiful 
design.  I  drew  a  long  straight  line  from  one  end 
of  the  board  to  the  other.  (They  all  laughed  at 
this).  I  made  the  analogy  between  this  long  line 
on  the  board  which  could  be  extended  indefinitely 
if  the  blackboard  was  indefinitely  long,  and  the 
sustained  note  on  the  violin  which  was  without  a 
point  of  departure  and  without  end.  I  played 

again  on  the  piano  F  t  |f  $  If  $  I  and  asked 
the  children  to  give  me  a  graphic  representation 
on  the  board.  They  drew  this ' I 

played    /  f  I  j  $  If  T  |<    They  drew 


154  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

COMMENTS:  The  children  seemed  to  under- 
stand the  two  elements  of  rhythm.  (Every  pos- 
sible rhythm  needs  at  least  two  motions — in  music 
and  in  life.) 

Group  II 

AIM  :  Application  to  sounds  of  the  principle  of 
distinction. 

METHOD  :  Tried  to  follow  by  analogy  the  same 
method  as  yesterday,  showing  the  greatest  con- 
trast between  low  and  high  sounds. 

A.  I  played  and  tried  to  stimulate  the  imagina- 
tion.   I  asked  the  children  to  tell  what  kind  of 
impression  or  image  they  received. 

Response:  (High  sounds)  Yellow,  sky,  blue, 
clouds,  buds,  blue  sky,  trees  swaying. 

Response:  (Low  sounds)  Black,  brown,  thun- 
der, dark,  people  stamping  on  the  ground,  dark 
cave,  drums. 

B.  Technical  part.   With  closed  eyes  they  have 
to  distinguish  between  high  and  low.     (In  A  I 
simply  tried  to  stimulate  their  emotional  feelings.) 
I  made  the  difference  very  clear  (no  mistakes). 

C.  I  explained  the  relativity  of  high  and  low, 
the  uninterrupted  scale  of  sounds  (like  the  un- 
broken line  of  yesterday)  which  we  observe  in  the 
wind,  the  whistle,  or  water  falling  in  a  can,  and 
the   necessity   of   discrimination   between   those 
sounds. 

D.  Technical  part.     Played  two  notes.     The 
children,  with  closed  eyes,  had  to  tell  whether 
sounds  were  higher  or  lower.    (Average  interval 
chosen,  7th,  6th,  5th,  4th,  and  sometimes  3rd.    No 
2nds  or  chromatic  intervals.) 


MUSIC  155 

COMMENTS:  Excellent  lesson,  remarkable  both 
psychically  and  technically. 

Group  IV 

AIM  :  Study  of  the  two  elementary  rhythmical 
motions. 

(a)  The  weak  beat,  preparation  motion,  light; 
the  strong  beat  (heavy  blow),  effective  motion. 

(6)  The  satisfactory  end  of  a  sentence  is  a 
stop,  a  rest — weight,  down.  It  is  always  written 
after  the  bar. 

Analogy  with  the  jump. 

METHOD  :  Illustration  through  numerous  prac- 
tical examples. 

Group  IV 

AIM:  Having  observed  that  Group  IV  (all 
boys)  did  not  seem  to  respond  emotionally,  I 
sought  to  make  them  understand  in  a  more  scien- 
tific fashion  the  elementary  and  highly  important 
principles  of  differentiation  of  rhythm  and  sound. 

METHOD.  Made  and  discussed  experiments  in 
accoustics:  1:  The  sound;  2:  Vibration;  3:  The 
pendulum.  Experimented  with  a  knife  suspended 
by  a  string.  Asked  them  how  many  motions. 

ANSWER. — Two. 

Asked  them  to  define  it. 

ANSWER. — Left,  right,  left,  right. 

Q. — If  the  string  is  shortened  what  will  hap- 
pen? 

A. — It  will  go  quicker. 

Then  I  bound  the  string  to  a  chair  to  show  them 


156  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

the  vibration  when  I  struck  it.  As  it  gave  no 
sound,  I  asked  "Why"? 

A. — Not  quick  enough.  (They  made  this  deduc- 
tion, that,  when  struck  more  quickly  it  made  one 
sound,  and  when  shortened,  a  higher  sound.  The 
longer  the  string  the  lower  the  sound.) 

Q. — Have  you  ever  seen  a  contrabass! 

A. — Oh,  yes.    It  is  a  kind  of  bass  violin. 

Q. — How  about  the  strings? 

!A. — Very  long. 

Q. — Is  the  sound  high  or  low? 

A. — Low. 

They  made  deductions  about  cello,  viola,  and 
violin.  They  questioned  about  the  difference  in 
the  sound  of  the  four  strings  of  a  violin,  and  one 
pupil  answered  very  clearly  that  it  resulted  from 
the  different  tightness  and  thickness  of  strings. 

Stenographic  Record  of  Group  III 

T.  Now,  children,  you  are  coming  to  something 
very  important.  You  remember  that  in  the  three 
lessons  that  we  have  had,  we  have  already  got 
one  thing,  that  in  every  rhythm  the  smallest 
rhythm  contains  how  many  motions  ? 

ELIZABETH.    Two. 

T.  And  the  one  is  a  kind  of  weight  and  the 
other  is  .  .  .  ? 

E.    Up. 

T.  Down  and  up.  Strong,  weak,  strong,  weak. 
(Claps  hands.)  That  is  already  a  small  begin- 
ning. You  have  to  learn  another  thing  too.  This 
refers  to  the  time,  as  you  know;  it  is  a  kind  of 
division  of  the  time — so  that  we  are  able  to  divide 


MUSIC  157 

the  time  into  small  fragments.  The  smallest  frag- 
ments that  we  can  make  will  always  contain  an 

alternation  I      I      |      |      |      | 

You  see  here  are  small  spaces,  absolutely  equal. 
In  those  small  spaces  we  can  have  two  notes. 

(Teacher  illustrates  tJiis.)\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\ 

Down  up,  strong  weak.  And  this  (I)  will  in- 
dicate the  division.  This  we  call  a  bar.  Concern- 
ing the  sounds,  you  saw  that  here  too  we  have  a 
differentiation.  We  have  the  low  sounds  and  the 
high  sounds.  You  felt  the  difference.  If  I  play 
this,  (do  mi  sol  do)  am  I  going  up  or  down? 

HABRIET.    Up. 

T.  I  want  to  see  if  you  know  whether  a  note 
is  lower  or  higher.  Do  mi. 

H.    Second  is  higher. 

T.    Do  ti. 

H.    Second  is  higher. 

T.    Do  ti. 

H.    Second  is  lower. 

T.    Fare. 

H.    Lower. 

T.    Mi  sol. 

H.    Higher. 

T.  That  is  very  good.  Now,  in  a  few  words 
I  will  explain  to  you  the  history  of  written  notes. 
At  the  beginning  men  were  living  in  the  woods 
and  they  had  not  many  words  with  which  to  ex- 
press themselves.  They  felt  the  necessity  of  talk- 


158  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

ing  and  invented  certain  words;  and  much  later 
they  arrived  at  the  idea  of  writing  certain  signs 
to  represent  those  words.  For  instance,  you  know 
that  Indians  and  other  peoples  have  certain  signs 
to  represent  certain  things.  (Draws  figure  of  man 
walking  toward  house.)  This  means  the  man  is 
going  into  the  house. 

Then  there  came  a  time  when  people  were  sing- 
ing beautiful  songs,  but  there  was  no  way  of  re- 
cording them,  and  they  were  forgotten.  Was  it 
not  a  pity?  Then  they  tried  to  invent  some  signs 
to  record  them.  Do  you  know  what  were  the  first 
signs?  They  were  low  signs  and  high  signs.  If 
I  am  going  from  a  lower  sound  to  a  higher  sound 
I  can  write  it  a  certain  way.  How? 

SUZANNE.    By  notes. 

T.  But  there  were  no  notes  then.  Suppose  I 
play  do,  mi,  sol,  do.  I  can  represent  it  this  way : 


or 

If   I   play   do,   ti,   la,   I   can   represent   it   this 
way:        ,.      .    Do  ti  la  do 


Thus  representing  the  sounds  going  up  and  down. 
And  at  the  beginning  men  tried  to  write  that  way. 


MUSIC  159 

For  instance  they  would  write  a  word  like  this 
(sings) 


la 


glor 

But  this  is  a  very  imperfect  way.    You  under- 
stand why.     Suppose  I  write  this    A/"    "\/*  ' 

What  does  it  mean?    Do  ti  do,  or  do  la  do?    There 
is  no  way  of  knowing.    There  was  no  fixity  in  it. 
So  more  and  more  they  saw  the  need  of  something 
else.    Something  definite  like  yards  and  inches. 
SUZANNE.    I    should    think    they    could    have 


written  music  like  this  •  \_J 


T.  Yes,  but  the  staff  was  not  yet  invented. 
Only  later  came  the  inclination  to  fix  the  sounds 
exactly  and  then  came  the  staff.  It  was  not  in- 
vented this  way  at  the  beginning.  At  first  it  had 
only  four  lines.  This  was  enough.  Here  are  our 
four  lines.  Now  having  thought  of  the  lines  they 
began  to  write  notes.  For  instance :  (Draws  staff.) 


This  was  one  note,  -*  •  -  9  J^  another  below,  and 
so  on.  If  notes  were  to  be  together  they  would 
represent  it  in  this  way,  f  f} ,  and  by  degrees  they 


160  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

arrived  at  the  way  we  write  music  now.  I  wanted 
to  explain  these  things  quickly  in  order  to  come 
immediately  to  our  own  way  of  writing.  Our  sys- 
tem of  writing  music  is  wonderful.  If  I  open  a 
book  and  turn  to  the  work  of  a  modern  composer 
I  can  tell  by  the  writing  who  wrote  it.  For  every- 
one has  a  certain  way  of  writing.  Now  here  is 
the  staff.  If  there  are  not  enough  lines  we  may 
add  some  above  or  below. 


The  note  below  the  staff  is  "c,"  the  note  in  the 
middle  of  the  piano.  In  this  way  I  write  the  next 
note  immediately  above  it  and  so  on. 


But  what  can  we  do  with  notes  only?  Nothing. 
We  must  divide  them  into  strong  and  weak.  With 
this  little  that  we  have  learned  we  can  already 
invent  something.  (Plays:  do,  re,  do  re  do  re  do.) 
We  can  take  even  one  note.  Do  do  do  do  do.  Be 
re  re  re  re,  etc.  Who  can  go  to  the  board  and 
write  what  I  am  playing  on  the  piano:  do  do  do 
do  do  do? 
HABBIET.  (Writes  on  board.) 


MUSIC  161 

T.  I  will  play  what  you  wrote.  There  is  some- 
thing missing.  It  sounds  like  a  drop  of  water.  I 

didn't  sound  it  that  way.    I  played  it  with  more 

i  i 

life.    Do  do    do  do    do  do.     (Plays  with  both 
hands.) 

WAYNE.    You  put  in  a  bass. 

T.    Why  a  bass? 

W.  It  would  not  sound  so  good  if  you  didn't 
put  in  a  bass. 

T.  There  is  only  one  note,  Mr.  Do.  But  he  has 
no  shape,  no  life.  I  have  to  put  some  life  into  it. 
Some  motion.  Do  do  do.  That  is  something  with- 
out shape.  As  soon  as  I  do  this  (teacher  plays 
notes  with  an  organic  rhythm),  it  takes  shape.  It 
lives.  The  other  is  not  living.  It  is  dead.  We 
put  into  it  life,  giving  it  the  feeling  of  weight  and 
of  lightness.  We  are  now  talking,  dear  children, 
of  the  greatest  force  of  the  world,  rhythm,  the 
thing  that  moves  the  sun,  the  earth,  everything. 
We  are  really  creating. 

SUZANNE.  Where  do  we  stop?  At  a  strong  or 
a  weak  beat?  Strong,  is  it? 

T.  Yes,  because  strong  means  down;  rest, 
weight.  And  how  shall  we  divide  these  notes? 
Before  or  after  the  strong  note? 

SUZANNE.    Before. 

T.    And  in  music  this  means  the  bar. 

r  r,  T  r  T  r '  r  '• 

You  see  (sings)  pum-pum,  pum-pum,  pum-pum, 
puna — .     Down  up,  down  up,  down  up,  down. 


162 


A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 


These  notes  I  write  are  called  quarter  notes. 
Later  I  shall  explain  to  you  what  this  means.  At 
present  it  doesn't  concern  us.  In  this  bar  there 
is  only  one  note,  but  that  is  a  little  longer  than 


the  others.    So  I  write  it  no  longer  so 


but 


so 


r 


One  is  a  quarter  note  and  the  other 


is  a  half  note.  The  divisions  here,  1,  2,  1,  2,  are 
divisions  like  the  hours  of  the  day.  We  call  this 
division  a  measure.  Now  comes  something  that 
is  much  more  important.  Rhythm.  Rhythm  is 
the  grouping  of  small  things  like  this  measure  to 
give  shape.  For  instance,  I  will  play  you  some- 
thing from  Beethoven.  He  was  one  of  the  great- 
est composers.  The  beginning  of  his  Fifth  Sym- 
phony is  made  up  of  a  few  bars  like  this : 


You  see  we  have  the  small  fragments.  And  these 
small  fragments  make  what  we  call  rhythm.  (Il- 
lustrates.) Now  let  us  try  to  invent  a  small 


MUSIC  163 

rhythm,  like  this.    (Plays.)    Who  can  write  what 
I  have  done! 

HABBIET.  f    f    I  f    I  f    f    I    f    I 

T.    Who  else  will  invent  another  rhythm? 

SUZANNE.    I  will,  f      I  f    f    I    f    I  f    f   I 

T.  Very  good.  You  see  what  we  can  do  with 
a  very  few  notes.  We  can  still  have  another 
rhythm : 

r  r  if  r  i  M 


AIM:  Study  of  measure  and  rhythm  in  2/4 
(intonation  from  C  to  G). 

METHOD  :  (A)  The  children  marked  the  meas- 
ure with  their  feet,  accentuating  the  strong  beat : 
left  right  left  right  or  counting  one  two  one  two. 

(B)  Marking  the  beats,  they  clapped  their 
hands,  but  only  on  the  strong  beat,  and  we  wrote 
the  exercise  on  the  blackboard. 

hands:f     $     |  f    *     |  f     $     | 
feet:f     f     If    f     If    f 

Then  they  walked  and  clapped  it,  while  at  the 
piano  I  improvised  on  that  rhythm.  Then  we  did 
other  exercises  along  the  same  lines. 


164  A.  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

Following  days  Different  Groups 

Exercises  on  rhythm  of  three  bars 

wnf  ip  T  r  :| 

(wirf  f  if   if 

«»rp  ir  r  if  r  !« 
(«IFP  if  r  if 

«ir  r  ip  'r  r  :" 
r  >r  r  'f 


Then  on  rhythm  of  four  bars  making  them  feel 
the  difference  between  three  and  four. 

Study  of  the  up  beat. 

We  had  a  few  exercises  in  intonation. 

I  played  a  few  Chinese  and  Japanese  songs. 

(Group  I  seemed  decidedly  too  young  for  this 
work.  They  were  restless  and  inattentive.) 

Group  III 

AIM:  (a)  Study  of  rhythm  continued.  Groups 
of  3,  4,  5. 

(b)     Study  of  the  up-beat. 

METHOD:  (a)  Same  as  before.  Played  to  the 
pupils  and  they  differentiated  between  the 
rhythms.  We  analyzed  an  Hungarian  dance,  hav- 

ing this  rhythm  :  (a)r_A_1+rJI-i  (b)  A+A  (a)  r-^-r 
(b)     The  up-beat  —  starting  before  heavy  blow 

r-r 


MUSIC  185 

Inspiration — Expiration 

Children  walked  and  clapped  hands  and  I  illus- 
trated the  up-beat  on  the  piano. 

Showed  influence  of  the  up-beat  on  the  further 
melodic  development  of  a  composition. 

Examples:  La  Marseillaise,  The  Star  Span- 
gled Banner,  and  others. 

Group  I,  11,  III,  IV:  First  Tests 

AIM:  To  discover,  as  far  as  possible,  after 
these  two  weeks  of  classes,  the  reactions  and 
idiosyncrasies  of  the  various  children.  The  musi- 
cal gift  is  a  synthesis  of  very  complex  factors. 
The  tools  first,  material — a  good  ear,  a  sense  of 
time — voice,  fingers,  all  the  technical  aptitudes; 
second,  spiritual — sensibility  and  imagination. 
These  first  tests  were  directed  to  the  technical 
faculties,  principally,  not  because  they  are  essen- 
tial to  a  love  or  understanding  of  music,  but  be- 
cause they  alone  can  be  measured  in  a  tangible 
way. 

METHOD  :    Adapted  to  each  group. 

RESPONSE:    Varying.    (See  details  later.) 

COMMENTS  :  The  individual  results  were  differ- 
ent from  the  group  results.  A  child  manifests 
his  individuality  in  a  different  way,  when  one  of 
a  group,  than  he  does  when  alone.  When  alone 
with  a  child,  I  have  observed  first  a  certain  ti- 
midity on  his  part ;  then  if  he  has  a  strong  individ- 
uality it  becomes  more  accentuated  under  those 
circumstances ;  whereas  a  less  strong  individuality 
no  longer  having  the  support  of  a  group  becomes, 
on  the  contrary,  weakened.  In  the  case  of  chil- 


166  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

dren  as  in  the  case  of  adults,  the  strong  are  the 
isolated.  The  others  follow  the  lead,  and  live 
only  as  a  part  of  a  group. 

Group  I:  First  Musical  Test 

AIM:    Measure,  rhythm. 

METHOD:  After  many  unsuccessful  experi- 
ments, I  resorted  to  simple  rhythmical  exercises. 

(a)  Beating  time  with  my  feet,  I  marked  the 
rhythm  with  my  hands  as  follows  : 

hands:  (•     ^     If     ^     If     f 

if  r 


Each  child  repeated  after  me. 

(b)     I  asked  them  to  clap  their  hands,  at  the 
same  time  they  marked  the  measure  with  their 
feet,  by  2,  3,  4,  thus  : 
hands 

12,12,12,  or  with  three,  1  2  3,  1  2  3,  1  2  3. 

RESPONSE  : 


Name    Age   A. 

B.                  Remarks 

Elwin         8  Bad 

Very  Good 

Gray           9    " 

Good           Nervous  —  Bad 

Dan            8    " 

it 

Howard      8    " 

M 

Frank         8  Better 

Medium 

Perkins       6  Zero 

Zero 

Charlotte    9  Excellent  Good  Very  Nervous 

COMMENTS:    Little  Charlotte,  une  enfant  ter- 
rible, nervous,  wilful,  and  the  one  who  is  the  hard- 


MUSIC 


167 


est  of  all  to  manage,  gave  unexpectedly  the  best 
responses. 

Group  II:  First  Musical  Test 

AIM:    Rhythm,  intonation. 

METHOD:  (a)  Same  exercise  as  Group  I  with 
feet  and  hands,  but  with  more  complicated 
rhythms,  2-3-^-5-6-;  then  the  same  without  feet. 

(b)  I   played   some    simple   melodies   on   the 
piano  with  rhythms  of  2-3-5.    Each  child  walked 
in  time,  listened,  beat  the  strong  beat  with  the 
hands,  and  explained  it  afterwards. 

(c)  I  beat   the   rhythms;   the   children   then 
wrote  them  on  the  board  as  follows : 


RESPONSE  : 
Name 
Lucienne 
Joanne 
Ruth 
Dorothy 
Bernice 

Name 
Lucienne 
Joanne 
Ruth 
Dorothy 
Bernice 

Name 
Waldron 
Herbert 
Jack 
Delmar 


A* 

Excellent 


B. 

Excellent 
Very  Good 
Poor 
Medium 
Very  Good     Good 

C.  Intonation 

Good — Slow  Very  Good 

Very  Good— Fast       "       " 


Medium  Slow 
Excellent  Slow 

A. 
Good 

Good 


Medium 
Excellent 

B. 

Very  Good 
Medium 


168  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

Name  C.  Intonation 

Waldron       Medium  Medium 

Herbert         Good 
Jack  Medium  Poor  Coordination        " 

Unbalanced 
Delmar  " 

COMMENTS:  For  intonation,  I  played  two  or 
three  notes.  When  a  child  could  not  tell  the  name 
of  a  note  I  asked  him  to  sing  it  instead.  Then  I 
tried  this  on  the  piano:  do-re-mi,  do-re-mi,  do- 
re-mi,  do-mi.  Some  children  could  not  even  re- 
member the  names  of  the  notes  in  this  simple 
exercise.  Bernice,  on  the  contrary,  reacted  in- 
stantly, without  reflection  or  hesitation,  and  with- 
out error.  A  curious  result  was  this:  When  it 
was  a  question  of  beats  (i.e.  measuring  time  with 
the  feet  and  marking  the  rhythm  with  the  hands) 
the  girls  were  better ;  the  boys,  on  the  other  hand, 
were  superior  in  the  more  intellectual  exercise 
of  counting  the  time  mentally,  as  1  (2)  or  1  (23 
4),  etc.,  clapping  their  hands  only  on  one.  One 
should  remember  that  measure  (the  necessity  of 
dividing  time)  has  to  do  with  the  musical  instinct, 
and  that  rhythm  on  the  contrary  (the  discrimi- 
nation of  a  stronger  beat,  a  more  important  ac- 
cent), is  a  fact  of  the  musical  understanding. 

In  this  Group,  as  in  the  others,  I  have  noted 
these  two  temperamental  differences:  (a)  those 
who  count  mentally  go  too  fast,  as  if  anxious  about 
getting  there,  and  rush  the  time  in  consequence; 
(b)  others  go  too  slowly.  Few  strike  a  happy 
medium. 


MUSIC 


169 


Group 

7/7:  First  Musical  Test 

RESPONSE  : 

Exercises 

in  Time 

Name 

(Hands  and  Feet) 

(Hands  Only) 

Suzanne 

Very  Good 

Very  Good 

Sylvia 

«        « 

n        « 

Dorothy 

«        a 

Too  fast 

Elizabeth 

Excellent 

Excellent 

Harriet 

Excellent 

Excellent 

Wayne 

Medium 

Good 

Ruth  McL. 

Good 

Good 

Dane 

Bad 

Fair 

Clarence 

Fair 

Fair 

Dwight 

Good 

Slow 

Ruth  T. 

Very  Good 

Elinor 

Very  Good 

Very  Good 

7  Played  on 

Piano  and  They 

Marked  Rhythm 

Intonation 

Suzanne 

Good 

Excellent 

Sylvia 

Excellent 

Medium 

Dorothy 

Good 

Excellent 

Elizabeth 

Excellent 

Excellent 

Harriet 

Very  Good 

Very  Good 

Wayne 

Good 

Very  Good 

Ruth  Me.  L. 

Very  Good 

Excellent 

Dane 

Clarence 

Excellent 

Dwight 

Good 

Great  Difficulty 

could  not  sing  or  dif- 

ferentiate between 

high  notes. 

Ruth  T. 

Good 

Excellent 

Elinor 

Excellent 

Very  Good 

170 


A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 


COMMENTS  :  The  same  observation  holds  true  in 
this  Group  concerning  the  respective  reactions  of 
boys  and  girls  as  in  Group  II. 

Group  IV:  First  Musical  Test 

AIM:  Same  as  Group  III. 

METHOD:  Same  as  Group  III,  only  more  com- 
plex. I  added  an  exercise  for  the  up-beat. 


RESPONSE  ; 

Name 
Ed. 
Billy 


Purely 
Rhythm 

Good 

Very  Good 


Richard  N.  Remarkably 

Good 

Richard  L.    Very  Good 
Kenneth        Good 
Carl  Good 


Rhythm  and 

Music 

Very  Good 

Very  Good 

Remarkably 

Good 

Very  Good 

Good 

Good 


Rhythm 

Writing 

Beat 

Memory 

On 

On 

Name 

Test 

Board 

Strong 

Ed. 

Good 

Very  Good 

Very  Bad 

Billy 

Good 

Very  Good 

Bad 

Richard  N. 

Good 

Excellent 

Excellent 

Richard  L. 

Good 

Very  Good 

Very  Good 

Kenneth 

Good 

Doubtful 

Good 

Carl 

Good 

Very  Good 

Excellent 

COMMENTS:  Edward  has  not  a  very  strong 
rhythmical  feeling.  He  has  a  very  poor  sense  of 
pitch.  One  ought  to  find  the  basic  cause  of  this, 


MUSIC  171 

for  he  has  a  sensitive  nature  which  ought  to  be 
sensitive  to  music.  Richard  is  remarkable;  sure, 
decisive,  precise,  clear  and  quick-minded.  He  has 
the  technical  gift.  But  I  ask  myself  if  it  be  accom- 
panied by  any  sensitiveness  and  imagination.  Billy 
is  very  good.  Richard  is  more  hesitant,  but  cer- 
tainly gifted. 

Generalities:  Emotional  Test 

AIM:  Having  finished  the  first  technical  exam- 
ination, it  seems  to  me  necessary  to  try  and  find 
out  what  emotional  reactions  the  children  have 
had  in  regard  to  music ;  if  they  like  it  and  why ;  or 
if  they  were  really  impressed  by  it ;  what  kind  of 
music  they  preferred;  in  brief,  to  test,  not  only 
the  faculties  of  perception  and  of  reproduction  of 
sounds  of  rhythm,  but  the  purely  emotional  en- 
dowments which  are,  as  well  as  others,  indispens- 
able to  a  musical  gift. 

METHOD  :  I  tried  to  obtain  little  confessions  from 
the  children  as  to  what  they  felt  while  listening  to 
music.  I  played  different  works,  unfamiliar  to 
them,  and  noted  carefully  their  reactions. 

Group  I:  Emotional  Test 

METHOD:  I  played  folk-songs  of  different  na- 
tions. 

RESPONSE  :  As  usual,  these  small  children  of  the 
first  group  are  absent-minded,  inattentive,  inca- 
pable of  keeping  quiet.  They  wish  to  play,  pinch 
each  other,  tease,  pull  each  other's  hair.  When  I 
ask  them  if  they  wish  to  go  and  amuse  themselves 
they  reply  "No."  Do  they  want  to  dance!  "No. 


y  j 


172  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

Do  they  wish  to  sing!  "No."  Do  they  want  me 
to  play  ?  * '  Yes. ' '  Everyone  wants  something  dif- 
ferent and  then  comes  a  dispute.  "No,  not  this! 
Yes,  that,  No,  Yes,  No."  But  when  I  play  they 
listen  very  little  and  continue  to  torment  each 
other.  The  pleasure  of  pinching  is  decidedly 
greater  than  that  of  listening.  They  like  the 
Japanese  song  with  the  exception  of  Charlotte, 
who  obstinately  repeats  "No,  no"  with  a  sullen 
look  habitual  with  her. 

COMMENTS:  I  can  draw  no  conclusions  from 
these ' '  Yes 's  "  or  "  No 's  "  or  from  Charlotte.  That 
little  girl  is  indeed  a  curiosity — obstinate  and  self- 
willed.  The  others  are  like  little  sheep  not  yet 
developed.  When  one  of  them  says  "Yes"  the 
rest  repeat  it.  But  Charlotte  says  "No"  in  order 
to  be  antagonistic.  There  is  one  thing  of  which 
I  am  convinced :  they  do  not  care  for,  nor  do  they 
understand  music  and  there  is  no  perceptible 
reaction, — for  the  moment  at  least.  Some  of  them 
have  hardly  any  faculty  to  reproduce  the  notes  in 
the  technical  examination.  Emotionally,  there  is 
nothing.  The  problem  is  difficult.  Are  they  too 
young?  Are  their  receptive  faculties  absent  or 
latent?  Is  the  awakening  of  the  musical  faculties 
related  to  the  sex  awakening?  (That  would  be  in 
accordance  with  Darwin's  Theory.)  I  can,  how- 
ever, remember  having  been  moved  bj?.  music  in  the 
most  intense  way  during  my  early  youth.  My 
daughter  Suzanne  is  the  same,  but  my  son  Ivan 
has  not  yet  an  idea  of  music. 

I  persist  in  believing  that  the  capacity  for  real 
emotion  is  rare  in  human  nature.  When  bound  to 
a  technical  gift  and  developed  to  the  most  exten- 


MUSIC  173 

sive  point  a  genius  is  created  (a  word  too  much 
abused  in  this  country).  For  children,  full  of  wil- 
fulness,  action,  and  reaction,  the  absorption,  the 
self-surrender  necessary  for  musical  emotion,  or 
any  other  aesthetic  impression,  is  almost  impos- 
sible. They  only  want  to  play,  act,  use  their 
powers — in  moving  about,  jumping,  pinching,  pull- 
ing each  other's  hair,  in  one  way  or  another,  but 
above  all  to  use  their  will.  They  connect  every- 
thing with  themselves  and  wish  to  impose  them- 
selves on  the  world  ceaselessly.  This  is  why  they 
prefer  modelling,  where  they  can  practice  directly 
their  desire  for  action,  even  though  it  may  only  be 
the  purely  physical  pleasure  of  kneading  the  clay 
— which  brings  to  my  mind  Paul  Claudel's  admir- 
able definition,  ''Sculpture  is  the  need  of  touch- 
ing." In  dancing,  they  use  their  muscles,  they 
free  their  desire  for  action. 

Among  primitive  people,  music  is  always  con- 
nected with  dancing  and  poetry.  The  three  arts 
are  almost  never  separated.  To  what  degree  is  a 
child  primitive?  Like  the  primitive  people,  he 
xloesn't  like  any  regular  work,  any  discipline,  any 
burden.  Like  the  inferior  races,  he  is  lazy,  and 
wishes  to  play.  On  the  other  hand,  music  plays  an 
important  role  with  the  primitive  races,  but  is 
bound  always  to  the  dancing  and  singing,  and  it 
hardly  exists  as  an  independent  art.  It  doesn't 
have  any  of  the  principles  which  have  produced 
our  Occidental  music  since  the  eighth  or  ninth  cen- 
tury. 

Here  it  is  well  to  remember  that  the  arts  which 
were  at  first  indissolubly  related,  have,  as  civiliza- 
tion advanced,  little  by  little,  become  separated 


174  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

from  each  other.  Music,  dancing,  poetry,  sculp- 
ture, and  painting  have  become  independent  of 
each  other.  Thus  the  problem  rests  on  these 
simple  observations ;  has  the  development  of  musi- 
cal art  been  natural  or  logical,  and  what  is  arti- 
ficial in  it!  Counterpoint,  harmony  and  tonality 
are  the  true  forms  of  our  Western  music.  We  are 
already  tired  of  all  our  musical  rhetoric.  Tonality 
is  perishing.  Rhythm  is  becoming  more  and  more 
irregular.  Harmony  seeks  to  free  itself  from  the 
channel  where  it  has  been  placed  by  convention. 
In  the  name  of  liberty,  we  arrive  very  often  at 
chaos. 

And  one  perhaps  forgets  that  every  people  and 
every  race  has  its  own  language,  that  the  East  is 
not  the  West,  and  that  their  truths,  their  laws  are 
not  ours,  and  if  a  beautiful  way  was  chosen  once — 
in  counterpoint  and  harmony — it  was  not  by 
chance,  but  surely  was  a  need,  a  necessity,  for 
everything  that  man  has  created,  has  arisen  from 
nothing  else  than  an  attempt  to  satisfy  his  desires. 

Group  II:  Emotional  Test 

AIM:  See  Generalities. 

METHOD  :  I  asked  the  children  if  they  liked  gay 
music.  Joanne  wished  to  know  what  gay  music 
was.  I  tried  to  explain.  Then  I  asked  them  if 
they  liked  music  in  general.  All  did  except  Jack 
B.  who  very  intelligently  replied  that  it  depended 
on  the  music. 

I  played  a  Hungarian  dance  (which  had  a  fast 
rhythm).  They  all  liked  it.  I  then  played  a  Hun- 
garian Folk  Song  (slow,  dark  and  in  a  sad  mood 


MUSIC  175 

with  a  freedom  of  rhythm).  Some  children  adored 
it,  others  hated  it,  some  thought  it  too  serious  and 
solemn,  others  just  liked  it.  Jack  B.  did  not  like 
it.  He  thought  it  had  "no  rhythm — just  a  lot  of 
notes  without  sense."  The  children  being  tired, 
they  finished  with  a  few  rhythmical  and  intonation 
exercises. 

COMMENTS  :  There  is  such  an  inequality  of  tem- 
peraments among  the  children  that  it  is  impos- 
sible to  draw  any  definite  conclusions  as  to  their 
musical  feelings,  at  least  for  the  present.  In  their 
class  they  seem  to  follow  either  each  other  or  to 
differ  for  the  sake  and  pleasure  of  antagonism. 
It  is  therefore  difficult  to  find  out  the  exact  opin- 
ion of  the  children. 

Stenographic  Record  of  Group  IV 

T.    Did  you  think  about  what  I  said  yesterday? 

SEVERAL,  PUPILS.     Yes. 

T.  Can  you  answer  perhaps  a  little  better 
today  than  yesterday? 

SEVERAL  PUPILS.    Yes. 

T.  You  remember  my  question.  I  will  tell  you 
that  the  tests  I  made  yesterday  and  the  day  before 
yesterday  were  made  in  order  to  see  if  you  recog- 
nized rhythm  and  sounds — the  two  most  important 
elements  in  music.  You  see,  from  rhythm  the 
sounds  get  their  shape.  This  was  a  very  good 
test.  It  proved  that  you  are  all  well  gifted  rhyth- 
mically. For  the  intonation  I  had  different  results. 
Edward  B.  and  Billy  H.  are  not  very  good.  This 
perhaps  can  be  developed.  I  don't  know.  I  have 
had  pupils  who  were  able  to  improve  and  others 


176  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

who  could  not.  But,  in  general,  it  is  possible  to 
improve.  What  I  call  a  musical  gift,  however,  is 
something  more  than  this.  This  is  only,  if  you 
will,  an  external  quality. 

I  will  explain  to  you  what  I  mean.  What  is  a 
good  doctor  ?  Is  he  a  man  who  has  studied  books 
carefully,  who  knows  exactly  what  will  be  the 
shape,  the  appearance  of  a  certain  sickness,  who 
knows  the  remedies  that  have  been  found  for  that 
sickness  I  I  don't  believe  so.  A  man  cannot  be 
told  everything  in  books.  He  might  be  a  very  bad 
doctor,  if  he  depended  on  books.  He  must  have  a 
kind  of  intuition — a  thing  that  cannot  be  defined. 
He  must  have  that  vision  into  the  human  body  and 
human  mind  that  makes  him  feel  what  is  the  right 
thing  to  do.  I  once  knew  a  wonderful  doctor. 
When  you  were  talking  to  him  and  telling  him 
exactly  what  was  the  matter  with  you,  what  you 
were  suffering  from,  whether  it  was  your  heart  or 
your  feet  or  your  head,  he  was  taking  notes  on 
everything ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  he  was  observ- 
ing you,  and  made  his  deduction  not  so  much  from 
what  you  were  telling  him  as  from  the  way  you 
were  telling  him.  This  was  the  result  of  keen 
observation  but  also  of  intuition.  He  had  the 
vision,  the  knowledge,  too,  of  course — without 
knowledge  it  is  impossible  to  do  anything — but 
also  the  natural  gift,  you  see.  I  believe  in  the 
natural  gift. 

What  is  the  natural  gift  for  music?  It  em- 
braces two  different  things,  as  I  told  you.  Of 
course,  the  musical  gift  includes  many  different 
qualities,  and  is  the  result  of  the  combination  of 
those  qualities.  There  are  technical  qualities  re- 


MUSIC  177 

lating  to  rhythm  and  sound,  and  then  there  arc 
other  qualities.  We  were  able  to  test  in  you  those 
relating  to  rhythm  and  sound,  and  I  know  that 
you  are  very  well  endowed  in  those  qualities,  and 
that  you  could  engage  in  musical  studies  with  suc- 
cess. I  know  that  some  of  you  have  great  difficulty 
with  intonation,  but  you  may  be  able  to  improve. 
Anyway,  you  have  difficulties.  It  is  the  same  with 
the  little  children.  And  an  extraordinary  thing  is 
this.  Those  people  who  are  not  gifted  technically 
may  enjoy  music  very  much.  How  many  people 
have  I  not  met  who  have  said :  1 1  Mr.  Bloch,  I  do 
not  know  anything  about  music  but  I  like  it  tre- 
mendously. I  love  concerts.  I  am  crazy  about 
music  but  I  do  not  know  anything  about  it."  And 
those  people  sometimes  have  better  judgments, 
truer,  and  more  sincere,  than  many  music  teachers 
who  know  everything  about  music  but  have  no  sen- 
sibility. Not  everybody  can  be  a  composer,  or  a 
pianist,  or  a  violinist.  We  must  be  glad  that  this 
is  so.  There  are  too  many  bad  composers,  bad  vio- 
linists, bad  pianists,  who  might  be  useful  to  society 
as  good  street  cleaners,  but  not  for  music.  Do  you 
understand  my  ideas  about  this  ? 

Now  I  will  see  whether  you  remember  what  I 
told  you  yesterday.  Each  of  you  told  me  whether 
you  liked  music  or  not. 

BILLY.    I  like  it. 

T.    You,  and  you,  and  you? 

PUPILS.    Yes,  yes,  yes. 

T.  I  will  ask  you  to  tell  me  about  several  selec- 
tions, and  please  answer  absolutely  frankly.  I  will 
tell  you  a  secret.  There  are  days  when  I  do  not 
like  music,  when  I  prefer  moving  pictures  to 


178  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

music.  At  other  times,  it  is  my  greatest  pleasure 
to  take  my  quartets  of  Beethoven  in  the  woods  and 
read  them.  I  enjoy  that.  Sometimes  I  find  music 
everywhere  in  the  world  but  in  the  concert  hall. 

I  often  go  to  a  concert  where  there  is  a  con- 
ductor who  is  doing  his  business  because  he  is 
paid  for  it,  doing  it  with  no  joy,  no  delight,  and  I 
hear  a  dead  performance.  I  took  my  children  a 
short  time  ago  to  a  concert,  and  I  was  ashamed; 
I  had  to  apologize  and  tell  them  that  what  they 
heard  was  sounds  but  no  music.  You  understand 
my  point  of  view  in  music.  I  understand  that 
sometimes  you  will  not  like  music — you  will  have 
had  too  much  of  it.  What  I  want  to  know  is 
whether  you  have,  even  once  in  your  life,  had 
the  feeling  when  you  heard  a  piece  of  music  that 
everything  else  disappeared  for  you,  that  the 
music  was  a  part  of  your  own  life,  of  your  own 
emotion.  My  little  boy  never  had  this  feeling.  My 
little  daughter  has  had  it.  There  are  people  who 
have  never  had  it.  Their  temperament  is  too  re- 
mote from  the  artistic  temperament.  When  I  was 
a  small  boy,  I  could  stand  before  nature  or  the 
dawn  or  before  sunset  and  weep  for  emotion.  I 
imagine  everyone  feels  this  in  some  degree  when 
he  is  young,  and  that  it  disappears  through  life. 
Do  you  understand  me? 

Now  you  have  to  tell  me  what  you  feel.  You 
must  understand  that  this  is  a  very  important 
thing.  Perhaps  you  feel  nothing  at  all;  perhaps 
you  feel.  I  think  you  did.  Where  do  you  have 
that  feeling?  You  see,  my  dear  boys,  it  is  not  just 
a  question  of  feeling  something  in  a  concert  hall. 
I  told  you  that  this  real  musical  feeling  I  didn't 


MUSIC  179 

always  feel  in  the  concert  hall.  I  felt  it  more  in 
the  woods  and  in  nature. 

(To  Richard  N.)  You  told  me  quite  frankly 
about  your  attitude  to  music — that  you  had  a 
positive  mind,  that  you  were  attracted  by  the  pre- 
cise things  and  the  simple ;  the  mere  fact  that  your 
great  ambition  is  to  be  a  lawyer  is  the  absolute 
proof  of  this.  You  know  sometimes  whenever  you 
read  a  book  you  lose  yourself  in  the  book.  Did 
you  ever  get  that  same  feeling  in  music? 

BILLY.     Sure,  I  did. 

RICHARD  L.    I  didn't. 

EDWARD  B.    I  have. 

OTHER  PUPILS.     (All  shake  heads  in  negative.) 

T.  It  is  a  very  extraordinary  fact  that  the  two 
with  most  feeling  for  music  were  very  bad  at  the 
intonation. 

You  told  me  that  you  liked  music.  What  kind  of 
music  do  you  prefer  f  *  *  Over  There  ? ' '  Music  that 
is  strong,  rhythmical? 

RICHARD  N.    Like  that. 

BILLY  H.  I  like  the  " Funeral  March"  which 
you  played  the  other  day. 

EDWARD  B.     I  like  sad  things. 

BILLY  H.  I  do  too.  "Over  There"  sounds 
slangy  and  rough. 

T.    Do  you  like  gay  music? 

BILLY  H.    I  like  all  kinds. 

T.    You  four  don't  like  music. 

BOYS.    Yes. 

EDWARD  B.     "Over  There"  is  common  music. 

T.    And  you  four  find  it  all  right. 

BOYS.    Yes. 

T.    I  will  play  you  a  simple  melody.    It  is  an 


180  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

old  song.  It  is  very  different  from  other  things 
you  hear.  I  want  to  know  what  you  think  about 
it.  It  is  played  Christmas  day,  and  speaks  of  the 
deep  mystery  of  the  birth  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  a 
kind  of  music  you  are  not  accustomed  to.  I  will 
play  you  this  first  sentence  twice;  you  listen  and 
tell  me  your  impression.  (Plays  from  "0  Mag- 
num Mysterium"  by  Vittoria).  I  will  play  it  once 
more.  I  would  like  to  know  what  you  think  of  it. 

BILLY  H.    I  like  it. 

RICHARD  N.  I  like  it ;  but  I  like  quicker  things 
better. 

T.  What  do  you  think?  Did  it  give  you  any 
pleasure?  You  like  it,  and  you  don't  like  it. 

KENNETH  T.    No. 

T.    Why? 

KENNETH  T.    Because  there  isn't  enough  of  it. 

T.  It  isn't  finished.  It  is  just  the  beginning. 
Do  you  want  to  hear  more? 

PUPILS.    Yes.    (Teacher  plays  it  again.) 

T.    Now  what  do  you  think? 

BILLY  H.  I  don't  like  the  last  part  as  well  as 
I  do  the  first. 

EDWARD  B.     I  like  the  last  part  the  best. 

T.  We  will  continue  this  at  our  next  lesson, 
Monday.  I  will  play  you  different  things  and  we 
shall  see  what  you  think  about  them. 

Group  IV:  Emotional  Test 

METHOD:  To  try  to  obtain  from  the  children  a 
sincere  confession  of  their  emotional  attitude 
toward  nature,  art  or  music.  After  having  pic- 
tured in  words  as  well  as  I  could  that  receptive 
state  of  mind,  intense  emotion,  that  feeling  of  for- 


MUSIC  181 

getfulness  of  the  world  and  of  oneself  which  seizes 
one  at  the  time  of  a  real  aesthetic  emotion,  I  ques- 
tioned them  as  to  whether  they  had  ever  experi- 
enced it.  Here  is  the  response,  which  I  believe  to 
be  sincere,  for  I  had  succeeded  in  establishing  a 
sympathetic  and  frank  atmosphere  and  I  think  an 
absolutely  truthful  one. 

EESPONSE  : 

EDWARD  B.    Yes. 

BILLY  H.    Yes. 

RICHARD  L.    No. 

CARL  D.    No. 

ElCHARD  N.      No. 

KENNETH  T.    No. 

Asked  them  if  they  liked  "Over  There."  Ed- 
ward B.  and  Billy  H.  thought  it  vulgar.  The 
others  said,  "It  is  all  right." 

I  played  them  the  marvelous  motet  of  Vittoria : 
"0  Magnum  Mysterium."  Edward  B.  and  Billy 
H.  understood  it  slightly,  but  the  others  disliked 
it  decisively.  I  played  another  motet  by  Aichinger 
which  was  more  rhythmical  than  the  others.  The 
children  had  many  divers  opinions ;  some  liked  it, 
others  did  not. 

COMMENTS  :  One  sees,  if  one  compares  this  result 
with  the  other  examinations,  that  the  relation 
between  capacity  for  emotion  and  technical  apti- 
tude is  in  inverse  ratio.  Edward  B.  and  Billy  H., 
who  have  a  bad  sense  of  hearing,  are  the  nearest 
to  being  moved  by  music.  The  others,  and  espe- 
cially Richard  N.,  who  has  a  mind  splendidly  clear, 
quick,  with  a  perfect  sense  of  rhythm  and  an  exact 
and  discriminating  ear,  will  feel  nothing  or  at 
least  very  little.  All  say,  however,  that  they  love 


182  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

music  to  a  certain  degree.    What  music?    To  what 
degree?    That  is  what  I  wish  to  find  out. 

Stenographic  Record  of  Group  IV 

T.  I  am  going  to  play  this  for  you  again  today. 
(Plays  "0  Magnum  Mysterium"  by  Vittoria.) 

BILLY  H.  I  like  it  pretty  well.  I  don't  like  it  as 
well  as  some  other  things. 

EDWAED  B.    Neither  do  I. 

T.    And  you  four  do  not  like  it  at  all. 

BOYS.    No. 

T.  You  like  it  a  little,  you  a  little,  and  you,  no, 
no,  no,  no.  I  will  play  something  else  of  the  same 
period  but  of  a  different  school.  It  is  German 
music  and  very  gay.  The  name  of  the  author  is 
Aichinger,  born  1565  and  died  1628.  The  other 
was  a  Spaniard  named  Vittoria,  who  lived  at 
about  the  same  time.  They  are  both  religious 
pieces  to  be  played  in  church,  but  one  is  quite  mys- 
terious and  the  other  joyful.  (Plays.) 

EDWAED  B.  I  like  that  better  than  the  first  one ; 
the  other  was  too  like  a  funeral  march. 

T.    Do  you  like  this  or  not  ? 

KENNETH  T.    Not  especially. 

T.    What  kind  of  music  do  you  prefer  ? 

KENNETH  T.    Fast  music. 

EICHABD  N.    I  like  fast  music. 

T.  You  perfer  this  one  to  the  other.  (To  Ken- 
neth.) You  don't  like  it.  There  is  no  reaction  at 
all. 

KENNETH  T.  I  like  it  but  I  like  fast  music  bet- 
ter. 

T.  You  prefer  the  second,  but  it  isn't  fast 
enough. 


MUSIC  183 

RICHARD  L.    Not  too  fast. 

T.  What  do  you  prefer,  military  music,  mili- 
tary band? 

BILLY  H.    I  love  that. 

T.  When  my  boy  came  to  my  orchestra  he  pre- 
ferred more  noise,  the  more  noise  the  better.  He 
loved  to  listen  to  the  drumming.  I  will  play 
something  else  that  has  a  little  different  rhythm. 
Listen  to  this  French  music — it  is  very  delicate. 

P.    I  like  that  better. 

T.    You  prefer  it? 

RICHARD  N.  It  is  not  as  good  as  the  second  one 
you  played. 

BILLY  H.    I  like  the  third. 

T.  For  the  first  nobody;  for  the  second  we 
have  Richard  N. ;  who  prefers  the  third? 

PUPILS.    I  do.    I  do.    I  do. 

T.  Almost  everybody.  You  remember  that  I 
played  "The  Funeral  March"  by  Beethoven;  did 
you  like  that? 

BILLY  H.    I  did. 

RICHARD  L.    I  don't. 

T.    Why? 

RICHARD  L.     Too  slow. 

T.    You  are  all  for  quickness. 

CARL  D.    I  like  loud  music. 

BILLY  H.  I  like  Beethoven  the  best  of  anything 
I  heard. 

T.    What  kind  of  music  do  you  like  ? 

RICHARD  N.  Where  there  is  something  lively 
going  on. 

T.  I  will  play  this  Hungarian  music  for  you, 
(Plays.) 

BILLY  H.    I  like  that, 


184  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

T.  They  are  not  all  quick.  Some  of  them  are 
not.  You  remember  this  one?  (Plays.  As 
teacher  plays,  pupils  laugh  appreciatively.) 

Everybody  likes  it? 

PUPILS.    Yes. 

T.  That  is  rhythmical  feeling.  That  is  the 
primitive  feeling  of  dance  and  music  together.  I 
will  play  you  another  one  that  has  the  character  of 
fantasy.  Perhaps  you  will  like  it,  or  perhaps  not. 
I  am  trying  to  play  it  as  I  heard  it  in  Budapest 
with  some  incidental  music  (if  I  can  call  it  so)  of 
people  who  were  improvising.  (Plays  Hungarian 
Folk  Dances.) 

P.    I  like  it. 

BILLY  H.    I  don't  like  it  as  well  as  the  first  one. 

EDWAED  B.    I  like  the  first  Hungarian 

KENNETH  T.    Because  it  is  quicker. 

T.  How  is  it  that  you  like  things  that  are  quick 
if  you  like  the  ''Funeral  March"  of  Beethoven? 

BILLY  H.  I  don't  care  whether  it  is  quick  or 
slow ;  it  is  the  music. 

T.    Now  how  about  this?    (Plays.) 

BILLY  H.  I  like  it.  It  doesn't  sound  like  a 
funeral  march ;  like  a  battle. 

EDWARD  B.    Play  some  more  of  Beethoven. 

BILLY  H.    Yes,  do. 

T.    You  like  Beethoven? 

EDWARD  B.    Yes. 

T.  I  will  play  the  beginning  of  that  Sonata  I 
played  the  other  day.  I  want  to  get  your  impres- 
sion about  it.  (Plays  Beethoven's  Sonata  in  Cft 
minor.) 

BILLY  H.    I  don't  like  it. 

EDWARD  B.    I  don't  like  it  as  well  as  the  other. 


MUSIC  185 

RlCHAED  N.      NO. 

KICHAKD  L.    That  fellow  writes  all  slow  ones. 

MRS.  B.  (Visitor).  Perhaps  they  would  like  the 
next  movement.  It  is  quicker. 

T.  It  would  not  be  the  music  then ;  it  would  be 
the  rhythm  that  they  liked.  I  want  to  see  whether 
they  like  the  music.  Of  course,  even  without 
music,  if  I  make  a  noise  I  will  get  attention.  If 
you  heard  a  noise  in  the  other  room,  knock,  knock, 
knock,  you  would  pay  attention;  but  that  would 
be  rhythm  not  music.  When  I  play  this  it  be- 
comes a  part  of  me,  and  I  forget  that  I  am  play- 
ing it  for  you.  This  may  seem  to  you  very  foolish. 
When  I  play  for  my  three  children,  the  girls  get 
the  same  impression.  My  boy  is  bored,  and  says 
it  is  too  long  and  he  prefers  to  go.  There  are  dif- 
ferent temperaments.  I  see  you  are  impressed  by 
the  picturesque.  I  have  played  this  for  you 
before  ?  I  play  it  once  more.  It  is  like  a  Japanese 
picture.  (Teacher  then  plays  some  Japanese 
music.) 

BILLY  H.    I  don't  like  it  at  all. 

EDWARD  B.    I  do. 

T.  You  do,  and  you  no,  you  no,  you  no,  you  no, 
and  you  no.  No  feeling  for  this. 

RICHARD  N.    Nothing  to  it. 

T.    Very  extraordinary. 

RICHARD  N.     There  is  not  very  much  to  it. 

T.  Let  me  see  what  you  like.  Do  you  like  your 
modeling  lessons? 

BILLY  H.    I  do. 

T.    Who  likes  modeling? 

PUPILS.    We  all  do. 

T.    You,  Richard? 


186  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

EICHAED  N.    Yes. 

T.  What  have  you  tried  to  make?  Are  you  the 
inventor  of  one  of  those  aeroplanes! 

RICHARD  N.    No. 

T.    What  have  you  done? 

PUPILS.    He's  done  one  of  those  cannons. 

CARL  D.    I  made  a  few  rabbits. 

EDWARD  B.     I  made  a  face. 

T.    You,  Eichard,  what  did  you  do? 

RICHARD  N.    A  little  of  everything. 

T.    And  have  you  made  drawings  ? 

RICHARD  N.    Yep. 

T.  What  did  you  do  in  drawings  ?  I  am  inter- 
ested to  see  the  connection  of  all  this.  Do  you  like 
poetry? 

RICHARD  N.,  RICHARD  L.,  CARL  D.,  and  KENNETH 
T.  We  don't. 

OTHER  PUPILS.    Yes,  we  do. 

T.  There  are  the  four,  the  Big  Four  against 
poetry.  I  will  not  ask  you  about  logic  because 
Mr.  Franzen  is  here  in  the  room. 

PUPIL.    We  all  like  logic. 

T.    You  like  music? 

SOME  VOICES.    Yes. 

T.  Quite  frankly.  If  you  like  music  say 
' '  YES ' ' !  If  you  dislike  it  say  ' '  No,  I  hate  music ' ' 
— and  I  will  shake  hands  with  you. 

Group  I 

AIM:  Intonation.  To  try  and  fix  in  the  chil- 
dren's mind,  ear,  and  voice,  the  sound  and  the 
name  connected  with  do-re-mi. 

METHOD  :  They  walked  and  clapped  their  hands 


MUSIC 


187 


to  the  rhythm,  singing  the  notes.    Then  I  played 
on  the  piano,  do-re-mi. 


PI 

^ 

m 

i 

bM= 

rl  —  r~ 

=i=l^== 

—  I  — 

^j 

-§2—  J 

3 

=d=! 

^ 

a& 

Group  III 

AIM  :  Intonation  and  writing  the  music. 
METHOD:  I  played  a  few  short  exercises. 


Chil- 


dren wrote  what  I  played  on  the  blackboard.  They 
generally  wrote  it  without  indicating  the  rhythm. 
Then  I  played  it  again  and  they  added  the  rhythm. 
Then  I  asked  them  to  sing  it,  and  to  mark  the 
rhythm  with  their  hands  and  feet.  They  made  the 
rhythmical  changes,  transferring  a  rhythm  of 
four  bars  into  one  of  three  bars,  as  : 


Group  II 

AIM:  Exercises  in  intonation  and  on  the  up- 
beat. 
METHOD  :  Played  a  few  bars  on  the  piano,  and 


188  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

the  children  wrote  them  on  the  blackboard.  I 
played  the  same  exercise,  adding  the  up-beat. 
Then  I  gave  different  rhythmical  shapes  to  the 
same  melodies,  using  only  one-half  notes  and  one- 
quarter  notes. 

COMMENTS  :  It  can  be  seen  that  I  begin  by  giving 
the  children  very  simple  means  of  expression 
(until  now  using  only  the  2/4  time,  and  1/2  and 
1/4  notes).  I  wish  to  give  them  a  few  tools  which 
they  understand  how  to  use  and  with  which  they 
can  build. 

Group  III 

AIM:  To  develop  the  children's  hearing  and 
rhythmical  feeling. 

METHOD  :  I  played  the  children  a  few  notes  and 
they  wrote  the  same  on  the  board. 


p 


They  did  this  exercise  very  well.  Then  I  asked 
them  whether  we  could  not  continue  instead  of 
stopping,  using  the  same  rhythmical  arrangement 
and  developing  the  melodic  idea.  They  wished  to 
continue.  I  had  no  difficulty  in  making  them  feel 
and  understand  that  the  last  do,  as  it  was  a  kind 
of  conclusion,  had  to  be  suppressed  to  find  other 
notes.  A  very  extraordinary  thing  happened.  The 
children  began  to  sing,  to  improvise  all  together, 
and  dictated  to  me  the  following  continuation  of 
the  first  exercise: 


MUSIC 


189 


They  were  aware  that  the  rhythm  of  this  little 
piece  was  of  four  bars.  I  asked  them  if  they  were 
satisfied  with  the  end.  They  were  not.  I  tried  to 
lead  them  to  understand  the  reason.  They  discov- 
ered that  the  do,  coming  three  bars  before  the  end, 
was  unsatisfactory,  and  they  knew  why.  At  first 
they  proposed  a  re  instead.  As  this  was  not  good, 
they  changed  it  to  la,  as  follows : 


They  sang  this  melody  and  dictated  it  to  me.  I 
asked  them  to  change  the  melody  into  a  three-bar 
rhythm  without  changing  the  notes.  They  made 
the  following: 


etc. 


Then  they  gave  me  another  example  of  a  three-bar 
rhythm,  as  follows : 


190  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

Then  I  continued  to  play  and  to  sing  this : 


etc. 


They  all  began  to  laugh.  I  asked  them  why.  * '  It 
is  the  same — too  much."  Then  I  added  to  it  in 
the  following  way : 


Moderate 


Vivo 


They  laughed  again  and  said  it  changed  too  sud- 
denly. 

COMMENTS  :  It  will  be  seen  in  this  lesson  that  I 
deviated  from  my  proposed  aim.  The  children 
were  in  a  lyrical  mood.  They  felt  creative;  they 
wished  to  improvise.  Accordingly,  the  lesson  be- 
came one  of  composition. 


Group  III 
AIM:  Rhythmical  study  of  the 


time  (using 


r  r  n 

f 

METHOD:  I  explained  to  the  children  why  the 
measure  of  %  time  could  have  only  one  strong 
beat.  I  used  the  same  analogies  and  practical  ex- 
amples as  before  (in  the  2/4)  showing  that  the 


MUSIC  191 

only  difference  lay  in  the  strong  effective  beat 
which  is  separated  by  a  longer  rest.  We  experi- 
mented with  this,  using  the  feet  and  hands  to  mark 
the  time.  Then  they  wrote  on  the  blackboard  the 
following : 

First; 

i         a         3,1         a         « 

Feetr    r    r   £   r    r 

Second: 
Hands  p'  \O* 

Feetr   r   r   >f   r   r 

Third:o        •      \o        *       \o        j»        \o       »       \ 

After  these  exercises  we  were  able  to  discern 
the  aesthetic  value  of  syncopated  time.  I  played 
to  them  different  melodies  which  demonstrated 
the  rhythm.  I  improvised  and  the  children  beat 
the  time  with  their  hands  and  feet  and  finally,  as 
usual,  reproduced  what  I  played  on  the  board. 

RESPONSE  :  Excellent.  This  class,  in  every  way, 
•is  remarkably  gifted.  They  were  greatly  inter- 
ested. 

Group  IV 

AIM:  Study  of  the  %.  Application  of  two-bar 
rhythm. 

Stenographic  Record  of  Group  III 

T.  I  will  see  whether  you  remember  what  I  told 
you  yesterday  about  the  %  bar.  In  a  %  bar  how 
many  strong  or  heavy  blows  are  there? 


192  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

RUTH  T.    Four — two. 

T.  You  don't  understand:  123  123  123. 
We  have  three  movements.  1  2  3 — I  am  counting 
three.  Now  beat  123.  How  many  blows! 

RUTH  T.     One. 

T.  Now  one  was  a  blow  like  that  of  a  black- 
smith 1  2  1  2.  How  many  blows  ? 

CLARENCE  D.     Two — one. 

T.  Two  movements.  How  many  blows?  If  I 
beat  you  so,  how  many  blows  do  you  receive  ? 

P.    One. 

T.    If  I  do  this,  1  2,  which  is  the  strong  blow? 

P.     Down. 

T.    If  I  beat,  will  you  feel  it  at  one  or  two,  1  2  ? 

P.    At  one. 

T.  You  will  feel  it  at  one.  Now  if  I  play  123 
how  many  blows? 

P.    One. 

T.    And  on  which  beat  does  this  come  ? 

P.     The  first. 

T.  The  first  will  be  strong  or  heavy ;  the  other 
will  be  light,  or  weak.  Now  that  you  feel  it,  let 
us  come  and  do  it.  123  123  123.  (Children 
imitate.)  That  is  like  the  division  of  the  eight- 
hour  day.  You  see?  Eight  hours  for  working, 
eight  hours  for  sleeping,  and  eight  hours  for  eat- 
ing. Let  us  do  something  else.  Suppose  I  am 
playing  three  notes,  there  will  be  only  one  strong 
beat,  123  123  123.  You  understand.  Now 
I  may  write  it  simply  with  one  note,  this  half  note 

But  this  is  not  sufficient,  it  will  make  only 
1  2.    So,  as  I  told  you  before,  we  can  write  a  dot 


MUSIC  193 

here  which  counts  for  a  quarter-note,  Nat- 

urally I  can  write  other  rhythms  in  that  bar.  Who 
can  show  me  how  I  can  write  it  ? 

HAEBIET  B.     (Writing  on  board.)     You  could 

write  it  like  this  :   f   f   f    or  this:     P' 


SUZANNE  B.    (Writing.)   ?      f  or  this    f 

T.  Beat  this  with  the  foot  to  show  the  rhythm. 
123123123.  Now  with  the  hands  mark  the 
strong  beat.  Here  I  beat  one.  Will  you  do  this 


with  your  hand  and  feet?  f    f    \f    9 

HARRIET  B.  The  second  beat  is  more  important 
than  the  first. 

T.  That  is  not  exactly  so.  Come  back  to  our 
blacksmith.  If  I  have  to  give  a  blow  here,  my  first 


blow  must  be  strong.    But  if  I  play     f    f    ,  you 

see  I  am  giving  more  importance  to  two,  because 
the  note  is  longer.  It  is  unexpected,  and  for  that 
reason  it  is  more  striking.  Now  I  will  play  some- 
thing on  the  piano,  and  you  will  try  to  go  on  and 
to  beat  123  with  your  feet.  I  will  play  three 

notes  in  the  bass  like  this.     (Plays    111.) 


194  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

Go  on  and  try  to  do  it  everybody.  (Children  walk 
about  clapping  hands.)  I  want  everybody  to  go 
to  the  blackboard,  and  write  the  rhythm  of  what  I 
am  playing.  I  am  doing  the  bass  to  give  you  the 

division  of  the  time,  f    f    f  •    This  is  %.    Each 

of  you  go  and  write  the  rhythm;  simply  the 
rhythm.  (Plays.) 

ELIZABETH  A.     (Writes.)  P      f 
T.     (Plays.) 

WAYNE  B.     (Writes.)    f    P 
T.     (Plays.) 

SUZANNE  B.     (Writes.)   f    f    f    I   f 

T.  (To  Sylvia.)  Sylvia,  you  try.  You  didn't 
pay  attention;  for  that  reason  you  don't  under- 
stand what  I  am  saying.  Please  try  to  dance  it, 
just  to  get  the  rhythm.  That  is  not  right;  you 
didn't  pay  attention  at  all.  Who  can  do  this? 

SUZANNE.    This  was  the  same  as  the  last  one. 

T.     (Plays.) 

KENNETH  T.     (Writes.}  f      f    I   f  " 


T.    Now  I  am  playing  another  with  two  bars 
again. 


MUSIC 


195 


SUZANNE.     (Writes.)       f    \P     f    \P      f    \ 
T.    Can  you  explain  to  me  which  seems  the 
most  striking  to  you?    P    |P      f    I   f*   I 

What  is  coming  here? 
ELIZABETH  A.    A  weak  beat. 
T.    A  weak  beat.    An  up-beat. 
P.    Oh!  there's  the  bell. 

Group  II 
I  proposed  the  following : 


J  J  J I J- 1 


Lucienne  wrote  it  on  the  board,  as  I  played.  Then 
stimulated  by  this,  she  made  the  following : 


s 


I  proposed  this  rhythm : 

f  r  r '  r  < 


196  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

Kuth  McL.  proposed  the  following  motif  : 


Then  they  sang  and  danced. 

COMMENTS:  Monday  is  a  bad  day.  Children, 
after  two  days  of  freedom,  are  inattentive.  Again, 
the  rarity  of  that  power  of  losing  oneself  entirely 
in  aesthetic  contemplation  was  evident.  It  is  a 
state  of  mind  very  rare  both  in  children  and  in 
adults. 


AIM  :  The  study  of  the  %  time  and  the  different 
rhythms  in  which  it  could  be  used. 


and 
values  used 


RESPONSE  :  After  different  rhythmic  exercises  in 
%,  Suzanne  proposed  the  following  motif  which 
she  wrote  on  the  board.  We  continued  it  together 
with  certain  improvements. 


J  J  r  ir  r  'r  r    ij  J ' 


Having  too  many  do's  Suzanne  proposed  the  fol- 
lowing "b"  instead  of  "a." 


MUSIC 


197 


rrri"  r 


iipp 


The  children  agreed  that  this  rhythm  was  monot- 
onous, so  it  was  necessary  to  make  certain 
changes.  The  proposed  changes  resulted  in  the 
following : 


§  J  « 

r^a 

-• 

1^ 

Nh 

f=f^ 

P 

r  r  r  ij  r  ir  r 


ZE 


Suzanne  wrote  this  motif  on  the  blackboard  from 


198 


A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 


dictation.   It  was   rhythmically   analyzed  after- 
wards. 


r  r  r  r  r  r  r  r  r 

Giving  in  this  way,  all  the  possible  combinations 
which  the  simple  means  at  our  command  for  the 
present  allowed,  we  continued  with  the  rhythm  of 
three  measures.  I  proposed  : 


r  r  r  'r  r  'r  r 


' 


clapping  my  hands.  The  children  wrote  it  rhyth- 
mically on  the  board.  Then  we  put  it  into  music 
in  the  following  manner  : 


^ 


Stimulated,  Elizabeth  suggested  this  motif 


I  developed  this  further : 


J  J  r  ir  r 


MUSIC 


199 


COMMENTS  :  My  proposition  had  malice  of  fore- 
thought !  The  exact  reproduction  of  a  little  motif, 
in  the  dominant,  is  a  characteristic  trait  of  Mag- 
yar folklore.  The  children  were  very  fond  of 
certain  Hungarian  dances  which  I  had  played  to 
them  during  the  last  four  weeks.  These  dances 
were  still  ringing  in  their  ears.  I  was  not  sur- 
prised, therefore,  to  see  them  seize  on  this  Hun- 
garian dance,  and  to  propose  the  following  con- 
tinuation, which  was  defined  rhythmically  so  as  to 
be  adapted  to  our  rhythmic  scheme. 


w 

4 

~« 

i  M  — 

PI 


I  showed  them,  however,  how  monotonous  this 
rhythm  of  theirs  was.  I  played  the  original  Mag- 
yar dance  and  demonstrated  to  them  how  much 
truer  and  richer  its  rhythmic  scheme  was. 


dominant 


Group  I 

AIM  :  To  develop  a  feeling  for  the  measure  and 
for  rhythm. 

METHOD:  We  went  to  the  wood  pile  and  took 
sticks  beating  the  time  and  counting  1,  2, 1,  2,  and 
then  1, 2,  3, 1, 2, 3.  We  repeated  it,  eliminating  the 


200  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

counting  aloud.  We  played  at  being  road  diggers, 
using  our  sticks  for  pick-axes,  singing  do  re  do  re. 

EESPONSE  :  This  amused  the  children. 

COMMENTS:  This  was,  without  doubt,  the  best 
means  to  take  with  these  little  children.  One 
ought  to  invent  for  them  different  rhythmical 
games,  using  all  kinds  of  tools.  The  children 
would  then  be  able  to  play  like  little  primitive 
creatures.  In  this  way  they  would  be  obliged  to 
give  a  rhythmical  form  to  their  play,  and  the 
instinct  for  measure  and  rhythm  would  slowly  be 
developed  in  them. 

Group  III 

AIM:  (a)  Theoretical  Side. 
Continuation  of  the  study  of  the  %. 

METHOD:  We  talked  again  about  the  principle 
of  the  strong  beat,  1,  2,  and  its  prolongation  in 

toe%;  A  ,A 

or  1  2  3,  =  P      |*    I  P      P 

I  then  returned  to  my  example  of  the  strong  blow 
of  the  hammer  on  1,  and  the  necessity  of  raising  it 
on  2  in  order  to  prepare  again  for  another  blow 
in  the  2/4  time.  I  then  imagined  a  hammer  so 
heavy  that  it  would  take  a  longer  time  for  the 
effort;  the  strong,  effective  blow  being  the  more 
important  and  the  more  natural  because  it  sym- 
bolizes the  weight  and  is  prolonged  thus : 


'1,2'        3        '1,2'        3 
down      up       down       up 


MUSIC  201 

In  the  following  rhythm,  on  the  contrary,  the  blow 
is  short  and  the  effort  to  raise  the  hammer  more 
considerable;  consequently  this  sort  of  struggle 
against  the  feeling  of  weight  is  less  natural — 
whereas  a  real  struggle  appears  in  our  muscular 
instinct,  and  its  psychological  relation  which 
gives  us  a  feeling  of  surprise. 

I     ft  3     1     2  3 

r  r  T  r  • 

Such  great  importance  thus  attributed  to  a  weak 
beat  provokes  in  us  a  certain  confusion,  a  certain 
lack  of  balance.  This  is  why  syncopation  im- 
presses itself  so  strongly  on  our  feelings.  Synco- 
pation plays  in  the  rhythmical  domain  the  part 
that  dissonance  plays  in  the  tonal  domain. 

AIM  :  (b)  Practical  Side. 

To  make  the  children  feel  these  rhythmical  im- 
pressions, and  to  develop  these  faculties  of  ap- 
preciation and  discrimination. 

I  used  the  following  rhythm : 

L2       8      12      3 

(&)  p    r  IP    r  IP    p  i  p'  i  i»»t««u 


i     28 

(b)  f     P       Iff  A  syncopated 


(c)  [5       f    |  f     f  mixed 

Id)  atilizing  the  up-beat 


202  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

Then  we  combined  all  of  them  in  a  melody. 


(b) 


g 

r  r 


ll 

J  rj 


& 


r  irr 


(OEjgUp 


r 


''  nr  n 


r  nr  nr  r'Jrrir>M 


The  children  observed;  wrote  on  the  blackboard; 
then  walked  and  counted;  in  brief,  they  assimi- 
lated and  verified,  in  every  possible  way,  the  dif- 
ferent rhythms. 
RESPONSE  :  Excellent. 


MUSIC  203 

Group  IV 

AIM  AND  METHOD  :  Same  as  Group  III. 
RESPONSE  :  Good,  with  the  exception  of  Edward 
B.  and  Billy  H.  who  were  very  poor. 


I  played:   r     P'P     P    T     f    ' 

Edward  B.  answered  that  it  was  2/4.  I  replayed 
it  —  same  answer.  The  others  laughed.  I  did  not! 
I  took  Edward  B.  apart  to  explain  it  to  him.  I 
made  him  march  1,  2,  1,  2,  1,  2,  and  I  played  in 
2/4  time.  I  made  him  note  every  beat  on  the 
blackboard  by  a  little  dash,  ---  .  Then  I  told 
him  to  group  the  dashes  in  two's  since  every 
rhythm  is  composed  of  at  least  two  motions: 

Then  I  replayed,  f  f  '  f  f  I  telling  him 
to  walk  and  count  (keeping  the  same  time 

J   J  .   J  .  )  But  he  hesitated  !  He  could  not  keep 

a  regular  time.  After  numerous  repetitions  he 
succeeded.  Then  counting  the  beats  he  perceived 
that  the  first  note  is  longer  than  the  second  one. 
I  asked  him  to  show  the  difference  graphically  on 
the  blackboard.  He  wrote  ;  ----  ,  and 
realized  that  the  first  note  was  double  the  second. 
He  wrote  the  figures  above  the  dashes  thus: 
123123.  At  last  he  understood  that  the 
rhythm  was  to  be  written  as  follows  : 

p  P  IP  pi 


204  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

Stenographic  Record  of  Group  III 

T.  I  will  play  you  this  poem  that  I  wrote  many 
years  ago,  and  I  will  ask  you  what  you  think  about 
it,  and  you  will  tell  me  quite  frankly  your  impres- 
sion. You  must  not  think  that  you  must  tell  me 
that  you  like  it  because  I  composed  it.  I  would 
appreciate  it  if  you  tell  me  really  what  you  think 
of  it.  I  shall  begin  with  "Winter"  and  then  with 
"Spring."  You  must  imagine  the  impression 
that  I  had  of  winter  with  snow  all  about  me,  and 
that  "Spring"  is  life  coming  again  and  the  awak- 
ening of  nature.  (Starts  to  play  "Winter.") 

DOROTHY  E.     That  is  lovely. 

HARRIET  B.    I  think  that  is  wonderful. 

T.    You  like  it? 

HARRIET  B.    I  think  it  is  fine. 

T.    I  will  now  play  ' '  Spring. ' ' 

HARRIET  B.  I  like  "Winter"  much  better  than 
I  do  "Spring." 

DANE  C.    I  like  them  both  about  the  same. 

HARRIET  B.  The  winter  one  has  much  more 
music  in  it. 

CARL  D.    It  is  not  so  long. 

T.    Do  you  see  any  image? 

DOROTHY  E.  You  could  draw  lots  of  wonderful 
pictures.  It  seems  like  an  old  house.  The  wind 
is  blowing.  The  snow  seems  to  be  covering  the 
house  and  it  is  nice  for  a  while.  It  isn't  drifting 
around ;  but  it  is  cold  and  pretty  soon — when  you 
go  up  again  and  begin  playing  loud — it  seems  as  if 
the  wind  is  coming  again  and  the  house  is  almost 
covered. 


MUSIC  205 

T.  Have  you  the  impression  that  there  comes 
a  yellow  ray  of  sunlight? 

DOROTHY  E.    No. 

T.  No?  I  had  the  impression  that  there  comes 
a  yellow  ray  of  sunlight.  I  will  play  it  for  you 
again. 

WAYNE  B.  "  Spring "  is  so  much  different 
from  the  other. 

T.  Did  you  notice  that  there  is  a  motif  from 
4 ' Winter "  coming  back,  very  far  away?  It  is  like 
a  faint  memory  of  "Winter." 

DOKOTHY  E.  I  think  " Winter"  is  the  prettiest. 
I  think  "Winter"  has  more  music  in  it. 

WAYNE  B.  I  prefer  "Winter";  but  I  like  both 
of  them. 

P.    I  couldn't  decide. 

HARRIET  B.    I  like  "Winter"  the  best. 

SUZANNE  B.  When  you  hear  "Winter"  you 
say  I  like  "Winter";  and  when  you  hear 
"Spring"  you  say  I  like  "Spring." 

T.    What  do  you  feel  when  you  hear 4 '  Spring  ? ' ' 

DOROTHY  E.  Sometimes  it  seems  day  and  other 
times  it  seems  like  night. 

SYLVIA  DEL.    It  is  wonderful. 

WAYNE  B.  Won't  you  play  the  other  ones,  and 
let  us  see  which  we  like  best! 

T.    What  other  ones? 

WAYNE  B.  The  funny  ones — dances  and 
things. 

T.  You  remember  the  dance  I  played  that 
Suzanne  danced  the  other  day;  would  you  like  to 
hear  that? 

WAYNE  B.  No,  play  that  one  you  made  up 
yourself. 


206  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

T.  The  grotesque  one?  (Plays  "Allegro  Iron- 
ico"  of  Viola  Suite.) 

WAYNE  B.    I  like  it. 

RUTH  T.    I  like  the  beginning  of  that. 

WAYNE  B.  Play  the  thing  that  you  like  best 
yourself,  Mr.  Bloch. 

T.    I  don't  know  what  I  like  best. 

WAYNE  B.    You  must  have  some  idea. 

SYLVIA  P.    Play  that  dance. 

T.  I  will  play  you  the  dance  that  I  played  the 
other  day.  How  do  you  like  this?  (Plays.) 

SYLVIA  P.    Lovely. 

KENETH  T.    Play  some  more  dance  music. 

T.  You  want  to  hear  some  dance  music  ?  Some 
Hungarian  music?  (Plays.) 

SUZANNE  B.    That  is  good  to  dance  to. 

T.  Will  you  try  to  dance?  (Suzanne  dances 
to  it.) 

T.     (Plays  another.)    Do  you  care  for  that? 

PUPILS.    Yes. 

WAYNE  B.    Very  much. 

T.  Here  is  a  nice  one.  (Teacher  plays  to 
pupils  for  the  remainder  of  lesson.  They  are  very 
attentive  and  appreciative.) 

Group  III 

AIM:  Study  of  the  4/4,  using  the  values  we 
had  already  studied. 

METHOD:  Same  as  before.  We  separated  the 
whole  notes,  half  notes  and  quarter  notes : 


r  T  r  r  r 


MUSIC  207 

Then  we  combined  them  thus : 

r  rnr  nrrr  if  r  f  TT 

We  made  exercises  using  these  rhythms  in  our 
habitual  manner.  Then  we  applied  them  to  two 
measures  as  follows : 

rnrrr  irrr  irrr  irnrrrr 
rr  nrnr  rrir  rr 

We  tried,  moreover,  applying  an  up-beat  to  all 
the  rhythms  and  noted  how  it  modified  the  phrase. 
RESPONSE  :    Good. 

Group  HI 

AIM:  Study  of  intervals  (tone  and  half  tone) 
and  tetrachords. 

METHOD:  I  recalled  to  the  children  the  lesson 
they  had  on  sounds  and  vibration.  Showed  them 
the  impossibility  of  differentiating  between  two 
notes  which  differ  only  by  one  vibration.  Spoke 
of  the  necessity  of  choosing  certain  sounds  from 
the  infinite  field  of  sounds,  and  told  how  this  selec- 
tion of  sounds  was  made  differently  by  different 
races  and  at  different  periods. 

Talked  about  the  octave,  the  natural  interval, 
which  resulted  from  the  difference  in  pitch  be- 
tween the  masculine  and  feminine  voice;  the  di- 
vision of  a  string  in  two  equal  parts.  Told  them 


208 


A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 


about  primitive  instruments,  and  the  scales  which 
came  from  them. 

Then  we  took  up  our  system :  the  half  tone,  the 
tone,  and  the  tetrachord. 


1  -5T 


1' 


fa 

mi 


re 


do 


do 
si 

la 
sol 


I  made  them  sing,  appreciate  and  differentiate 
these  tones  and  half  tones  in  various  exercises  in 
intonation. 

Then  I  played  "Cherry  Bloom" 
(Japanese),  and  showed  them  that 
the  scale  here  used  also  contained  two 
symmetrical    tetrachords    separated 
by  a  tone,  but  that  the  order  of  the 
tones  and  half  tones  was  modified. 
Instead  of  l-l-i/2   1-1%. 
We  had  V2-l-l   %-!-!. 
RESPONSE:    "It     does     not     end 
properly. " 

"There  is  no  home  tone." 
"It  is  not  American." 
COMMENTS:    Obviously  it  was  not  American! 
It  did  not  have  the  tonality  or  the  rhythm  of 
ragtime  or  "Over  There"  or  the  Boche,  "0  Tan- 
nenbaum,"  or  such  military  music  as  one  hears 
on  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York,  or  the  style  of  the 
host  of  stupid  little  German  popular  songs,  which 
inundate  the  American  kindergarten  with  their 
English  words   as   stupid   as   the  commonplace 
melodies  that  accompany  them. 
I  shall  have  difficulty  in  enlightening  the  minds 


MUSIC  209 

of  these  youngsters  and  in  correcting  the  erro- 
neous conceptions  which  have  misled  them.  I  was 
obstructed  by  what  they  had  previously  learned, 
which  had  become  fixed  in  their  minds,  and  which 
was  easily  retained.  They  were,  therefore,  preju- 
diced by  habit;  were  not  able  to  have  a  real  ap- 
preciation of  the  home  tone;  this  being  confused 
with  the  tonic  of  our  major  mode,  or  with  the  arti- 
ficial minor  mode,  as  if  all  music,  past  and  future, 
was  circumscribed  by  such  artificial  and  narrow 
limits,  as  if  the  music  of  antiquity,  Greek  music, 
Gregorian  chants,  Oriental  music,  and  our  modern 
evolution  were  not  there  to  protest  against  such 
a  shallow  prejudice,  which  is  raised  to  the  dignity 
of  a  Rule,  an  unquestionable  Law!  (when  it  was 
merely  the  law  of  one  period). 

Group  IV 

AIM:  Study  of  home  tone  (tonic),  tetra- 
chords  and  modes. 

METHOD  :  I  talked  to  them  about  the  above.  I 
then  played  diverse  melodies  written  in  old  modes. 

RESPONSE:  My  desire  was  to  correct  the  er- 
roneous and  restricted  conception  of  the  children, 
viz.:  that  our  major  and  minor  modes  are  the 
only  means  of  giving  a  feeling  of  unity  in  music. 
A  large  part  of  ancient  and  of  modern  music  is 
outside  of  such  a  conception.  At  the  side  of  ton- 
ality there  is  a  place  for  modality.  As  the  im- 
pressions of  children,  during  this  period  of  their 
life,  are  so  intense  and  vivid,  one  should  not 
hinder  or  impede  their  imaginations  by  narrow 
and  rigid  formulae.  One  should,  on  the  contrary, 


210  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

keep  their  imaginations  free  and  independent, 
open  to  all  beauty.  It  is  indispensable,  however, 
to  explain  that  all  art  and  every  means  of  expres- 
sion requires  order;  arrangement  of  the  different 
parts.  One  must  eliminate  from  the  child's  mind 
all  idea  of  arbitrariness  or  anarchy.  The  teacher 
should  make  the  children  experience  and  under- 
stand, by  using  every  means  and  through  all  pos- 
sible analogies,  a  feeling  for  style;  that  which  is 
most  appropriate  and  which  is  necessary  to  all 
good  works  of  art.  It  is  well  to  bring  to  mind 
this  admirable  definition  of  Plato — "A  melody  is 
beautiful  as  long  as  it  keeps  its  own  character: 
it  is  a  failure  as  soon  as  it  leaves  it." 

Walt  Whitman  also  said, — I  can't  remember 
just  where;  " Everything  that  is  in  its  place  is 
good.  Everything  that  is  out  of  its  place  is  bad." 

I  do  not  know,  at  least  for  myself,  any  better 
principles  of  aesthetics. 

Stenographic  Record  of  Group  III 

T.  You  remember  what  I  told  you  yesterday. 
From  do  to  re  what  is  the  distance? 

PUPILS.     One — one-half — one  whole  tone 

T.    One  whole  tone.    From  re  to  mil 

P.    One. 

T.    From  mi  to  fa? 

P.    One-half. 

T.    How  many  notes  are  there  from  do  to  fa? 

P.    Four. 

T.  Now  we  will  continue  and  build  exactly  the 
same  from  sol  to  la  and  we  have 

P.    One  whole  tone. 


MUSIC  211 

T.    From  la  to  si? 

P.    One. 

T.    From  si  to  do? 

P.    One-half. 

T.  This  represents  our  so-called  major  scale 
but  long  before  we  had  that  major  scale  there  were 
quite  different  scales.  They  are  not  all  the  same. 
I  have  shown  you  some  oriental  music  and  a  num- 
ber of  old  songs,  too,  that  are  not  constructed  on 
that  scale,  and  they  are  perfectly  beautiful,  just 
the  same.  I  showed  you  the  Japanese  song,  and 
here  too  we  had  four  notes  absolutely  symmetrical, 
but  the  semi-tone  was  placed  at  a  different  dis- 
tance. I  will  begin  with  E  for  instance.  If  I  be- 
gin with  E  we  have  mi  fa.  Is  this  a  whole  or  a 
half  tone? 

P.    Half. 

T.  Fa  sol,  sol  la;  if  I  continue  from  si  do  we 
have 

P.    Half. 

T.    Do  re. 

P.    Whole. 

T.  So  I  have  again  something  quite  symmetri- 
cal. (Plays.)  We  have  a  small  group  of  four 
notes  that  we  call  a  tetrachord.  Tetra  is  a  Greek 
word  that  means  four.  Now  I  will  explain  some- 
thing else.  You  told  me  yesterday  that  the  home 
tone  is  do.  I  will  explain  to  you  what  the  real 
home  tone  is.  I  want  to  know  why  there  is  a  home 
tone  and  what  a  home  tone  is. 

HAERIET.    The  tone  that  we  started  with. 

T.  That  is  not  what  you  told  me  yesterday 
because  when  I  played  the  "Cherry  Bloom"  you 
told  me  that  it  didn't  end  at  the  home  tone.  It 


212  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

is  not  American  music.  I  asked  you  what  is 
American.  Why  do  you  think  there  is  a  home 
tone!  What  is  a  home  tone! 

P.    Tone  that  starts  and  ends.    Yes  no  yea  no. 

T.  There  is  no  unanimity.  If  I  play  this 
(plays  in  old  modes)  do  you  feel  the  home  tone! 

PUPILS.  No.  I  do.  No  it  isn't.  It  started  on 
do. 

T.    No,  it  started  on  re.    Is  this  a  home  tone? 

HARRIET.    No. 

TARBELL.     No. 

ELIZABETH.    No. 

THE  REST.    No. 

T.    Yes,  it  is. 

WAYNE.     I  thought  so. 

PUPILS.    You  did. 

T.  And  this  is  what  I  want  to  take  out  of  your 
little  brains.  It  was  brought  from  Germany — 
this  idea.  One  is  making  a  struggle  against  every- 
thing that  is  German  now.  Please  do  not  under- 
stand that  I  am  against  the  Germans  at  all  What 
is  good  from  Germany  we  ought  to  keep.  But 
this  is  bad.  I  will  explain  exactly  what  is  a  home 
tone.  You  see  that  among  all  our  sounds  and  vi- 
brations a  choice  was  necessary  to  make  our 
music.  When  I  played  the  long  note  on  my  violin 
you  laughed,  because  there  was  no  rhythm.  There 
was  a  division  necessary  to  give  shape.  Now,  if 
I  took  a  machine  that  would  give  vibration,  we 
could  not  do  anything  with  it.  We  have  to  choose 
something.  Let  us  s'uppose  a  painter  is  making 
a  beautiful  picture.  He  must  choose  his  subject, 
too.  He  must  have  a  certain  kind  of  atmosphere. 
He  will  not  paint  a  sunrise  and  a  sunset  on  the 


MUSIC  213 

same  picture.  There  must  be  one  important  sub- 
ject. If  a  painter  paints  the  picture  of  a  person, 
he  will  not  put  in  a  whole  lot  of  things.  He  will 
make  that  person  stand  out.  So  in  music.  So 
the  home  tone  would  be  something  like  this. 
Among  all  notes  we  choose  one  note  that  is  more 
important  than  the  others — that  will  come  back — 
that  will  give  unity.  Suppose  some  one  told  you 
the  story  of  a  little  girl  and  then  talked  about  air- 
planes and  about  potatoes  and  about  music.  You 
would  laugh.  There  would  be  no  unity.  So  we 
have  to  choose  a  note  so  there  will  be  unity.  But 
there  is  not  one  scale;  there  are  many.  The. old 
people  of  India  had  916  different  home  tones, 
and  we  have  one.  But  the  old  people  of  Greece 
or  of  Asia  had  quite  different  scales  from  this. 
For  centuries,  people  had  quite  different  ideas 
from  ours,  and  only  a  few  centuries  ago  came  this 
new  idea,  which  is  already  beginning  to  change.  I 
want  to  teach  you  today  the  meaning  of  the  home 
tone.  I  will  play  you  one  of  the  Gregorian  chants. 
It  is  the  music  of  the  Catholic  church  and  has  been 
its  music  for  centuries  and  centuries.  They  are 
the  most  magnificent  music  one  can  imagine.  I 
will  begin  with  the  mass  for  the  dead:  The 
Requiem.  (Plays.)  It  moves  on  a  very  few  notes 
but  there  is  one  note  that  is  more  important  than 
the  others.  (Children  all  this  time  very  atten- 
tive.) Now  comes  the  second  part.  This  would 
be  the  home  tone.  We  start  and  we  come  back. 
Sometimes  we  will  start  with  another  note  but 
at  the  end  will  be  the  most  important  note.  Now 
it  changes  (plays).  You  see  now  that  the  note  has 
changed.  The  home  tone  is  another  one.  (Derby 


214  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

and  Dane  inattentive.)  I  could  multiply  ex- 
'  am  pies.  Our  actual  modern  scale  is  do  re  mi  fa 
sol  la  si  do.  For  centuries  the  home  tone  was 
different.  But  it  has  changed,  and  is  now  chang- 
ing again.  The  thing  is  not  to  say  that  do  is  the 
only  home  tone.  It  is  only  one  home  tone.  I  want 
to  show  you  examples,  so  you  can  choose  the 
home  tone.  If  I  play  you  this  (plays)  it  sounds 
perfectly  well.  It  seems  a  little  strange  because 
you  are  used  to  "Over  There"  and  such  music 
as  the  music  of  the  moving  pictures.  But  it  is 
beautiful.  Music  is  broader  than  this  moving 
picture  music,  and  it  is  as  rich  as  nature  itself. 

Group  III 

AIM:  Study  of  eighth  notes  in  the  2/4  (using 
rhythm  of  two  measures). 

METHOD:  Same.  I  played  the  following 
rhythms.  The  children  beat  the  time  and  wrote 
them  on  the  board. 


rw   r 


rncirr 


MUSIC  215 

Then, 


EESPONSE  :  The  children  were  delighted.  They 
were  like  young  colts  who  had  been  in  the  halter 
and  were  at  last  free  to  go  their  way  in  the  field, 
in  full  sunlight.  This  acquisition  of  the  eighth 
note,  with  all  its  rhythm  and  variety,  resulted  in 
making  the  children  joyous  and  excited.  In  fact, 
I  was  astonished  at  the  results.  The  last  exercise 
was  very  difficult.  I  played  it,  therefore,  without 
the  up-beat,  thus: 


f  i  f  if  f  i  f 


After  they  understood  the  above,  I  added  to  it 
an  up-beat  which  transformed  the  rhythmical 
structure  of  the  phrase. 

* 

|f    t 

Suzanne  B.  marked  a  caesura  without  my  asking 
her  to  do  so. 


216  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

Stenographic  Record  of  Group  III 

T.  Today  I  want  to  explain  something  in 
rhythm.  We  will  begin  to  do  two  quite  new 
things,  because  we  must  go  ahead.  We  studied 
the  whole  note,  the  half  note,  and  the  quarter  note, 
and  their  combinations.  That  is,  we  were  able 

to  do  this  :    o     .    One  two  three  four 
and  this,     P      ?  .    One  two       three  four 

and  this,  f    f   f  f  •    One  two  three  four. 

Now  we  can  do  a  little  more;  go  on  a  little 
quicker.  We  can  use  a  note  that  is  shorter. 

HARRIET  B.     Eighth. 

T.  But  I  don't  want  to  use  this  absolutely 
without  discrimination.  I  want  you  to  know  ex- 
actly  the  use  of  it,  and  for  that  reason  let  us  begin 
with  the  2/4,  as  we  did  at  the  beginning.  We  can 


write  the  eighth  note  so,  .    (Writes  on  the 

board.)    We  can  make  a  lot  of  combinations. 

f     P  f     if 

f  f  r  r 


MUSIC  217 

We  can  make  two  bars.  Practically,  it  would 
be  the  same  as  one  two  three  four.  It  simply 
goes  quicker.  (Sings  notes,  pampampampam.) 

Will  you  beat  this?     f    ff  ff 

(Children  beat  while  instructor  plays.)  Or  I 
can  do  this  instead.  (Plays)  f '  fi  ( 

Naturally  I  could  have  before  every  one  of  those 
notes  an  up-beat — a  long  or  a  short  one.  That 

would  be  written  that  way :     ft  I  f  ff 

You  remember  the  up-beat  has  great  importance 
on  the  shape. 

T.  I  will  ask  you  to  write  a  few  rhythms  with 
the  2/4.  I  shall  play  and  see  who  can  do  it. 

SUZANNE  B.    I  can. 

T.     (Plays.) 

SUZANNE  B.     (Writes  on  board.) 


r  trc/r 


T.    Good.    Who  will  go  to  the  board  now! 
HABBIET  B.    I  will.    (Teacher  plays  and  Har- 


riet writes.)    jj  If*  Q  Iff  ff  ff 


T.    The  first  bar  is  right.    I  will  play  what  you 
have  written.    What  I  played  is  this.    (Plays.) 


218  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

HARRIET  B.     (Writes.)  f"    |*  P_T  '  f  *'  £'  fl  - 


T.     (Teacher  plays  on  motif  of  Harriet.)    Do 
you  like  it? 
PUPILS.    Yes. 
T.    Will  you  try  to  write  it,  Suzanne? 

SUZANNE  B.     (Writes  on  board.)      '      K    r  f" 

T.  Can  you  tell  me  why  you  like  it?  You  see 
we  begin  with  the  low  notes.  We  have  three  notes 
coming  unexpectedly  over  here.  That  is  a  synco- 
pation here.  There  are  three  little  notes  before 
two  long  ones.  I  will  play  another  one. 

BUTH  McL.     (Writes  on  board.) 

?  »r_r  r  / 

T.    Who  wants  to  do  another  one? 
DOBOTHY  N.     (Writes  on  board.) 

CIITT  f  ' 

T.    Now,  children,  something  amusing.    Write 
for  me  the  rhythm  I  am  playing  with  my  left  hand. 
EUTH  McL.    I  cannot  do  it. 


SUZANNE  B.     (Writes.)       tfj  ff  jj  £) 


\ 


T.    You   seem   pleased.     You   are   like   little 
horses  who  have  remained  in  the  stall  the  whole 


MUSIC 


219 


winter,  eating  only  dry  hay,  and  now  we  can  go 
out  and  eat  where  we  like  because  we  have  more 
notes.  Of  course,  it  was  very  hard  to  compose 
with  the  few  notes.  We  shall  now  be  free  to  use 
all  the  combinations  we  like.  Suppose  we  try  to 
work  with  three  bars ;  I  will  play  a  more  difficult 
one. 

SUZANNE  B.     (Writes.)     (J   '  f    df  f  *    P    ' 

T.  I  will  play  a  very  difficult  one.  (Children 
very  attentive.) 

HARRIET  B.  and  SUZANNE  B.  (Try  but  do  not 
get  it  correctly.) 

Group  III 

AIM:  Exercises  in  tonation  (half  tones  and 
tone).  Rhythm  in  the  2/4  and  3/4,  using  eighth 
notes. 

METHOD  :  I  did  not  know  exactly  why,  when  the 
children  arrived,  I  played  to  them  some  frag- 
ments from  the  ballet  of  Hippolyte  and  Aricie  by 
Rameau  (that  incomparable  creator  of  rhythms). 
The  children  were  enchanted  by  it;  it  made  them 
joyous  and  excited.  I  continued,  therefore,  and 
perceived  that  this  music  was  exactly  suitable  for 
our  study. 


^ 


220  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

I  had  them  analyse  the  rhythm,  first,  measure 
by  measure ;  then  the  groups ;  at  last,  the  form  of 
the  sentence  itself.  I  then  played  other  selections 
from  the  same  work: 

RESPONSE  :    Excellent. 

COMMENT  :  None.  But  yes !  It  is  good  to  have 
a  plan  before  teaching,  but  it  is  much  better  to  de- 
part from  it  when  there  is  a  chance  for  the  inspi- 
ration of  the  moment.  One  cannot  teach  art  as 
one  teaches  mathematics  and  logic.  And  why 
should  it  be  necessary  to  teach  mathematics  in 
such  a  dry,  boresome  way  as  it  is  generally  taught  ? 
Life  is  everywhere,  and  everywhere  overflows  its 
bounds.  The  teacher  must  be  inspired  sometimes ; 
then  the  pupils  themselves  will  be.  If  the  pro- 
gramme to  be  followed  is  not  strictly  adhered  to, 
what  difference  does  it  make?  Programmes  are 
nothing  in  themselves.  To  stimulate  the  imagi- 
nation and  emotions  of  these  children  seems  to 
me  of  the  first  importance.  I  do  not  wish  to  imply 
that  my  methods  are  the  only  ones.  No!  They 
were  simply  the  means  which  seemed  best  for  me 
to  use  at  the  time.  Teachers  should  know  that 
their  inspiration  and  enthusiasm  for  beauty  and 
art,  and  their  desire  to  arouse  it  in  pupils,  is 
worth  more  than  any  method,  or  any  barren,  life- 
less theory. 

Group  IV 

AIM:  I  perceived  that  my  group  of  strong 
souls  was  not  in  a  contemplative  mood.  As  I 
know  by  experience  that  under  such  circumstances 
there  is  nothing  much  to  be  drawn  from  them, 
I  allowed  myself  to  be  guided  by  them  to  some 


MUSIC  221 

degree.  Edward  B.  and  Billy  H.  amused  them- 
selves by  striking  the  Montessori  bells  and  hand- 
ling the  different  tuning  forks.  I  took  advantage 
of  this,  and  struck  notes  from  the  different  tun- 
ing forks.  I  delighted  in  these  dissonances,  and 
tried  to  make  them  share  my  enthusiasm.  But 
no :  the  beauty  and  the  strangeness  did  not  attract 
them;  it  evoked  nothing.  The  practical  and  util- 
itarian side  of  their  minds,  combined  with  their 
need  of  action  only,  was  satisfied.  The  pleasure 
for  them  was  not  in  the  sound  itself,  but  in  the 
making  of  it.  This  is  the  antipode  of  an  aesthetic 
feeling.  It  is  the  same  state  of  mind  that  people 
have  when  they  go  to  concerts  to  display  their 
clothes,  their  jewels,  to  chatter  and  disport  them- 
selves, or  simply  to  gaze  at  the  soloist  who  tries 
to  resemble  Chopin,  or  the  acrobatic  pianist  with 
wild  gestures.  It  is  impossible  for  them  to  forget 
or  to  lose  themselves,  even  for  a  moment,  in  the 
music.  For  that  reason,  the  lesson  was  made 
scientific,  one  of  acoustics.  The  forks  served  to 
explain  the  vibration,  the  octave,  and  the  division 
of  the  string  into  two  equal  parts. 

We  found  two  dos — the  do  which  had  256  vibra- 
tions, and  the  one  which  had  512.  That  led  us  to 
make  calculations. 

Then  I  explained  the  complete  series  of  over- 
tones (the  division  in  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  up  to  sound  16). 
We  talked  about  stringed  and  brass  instru- 
ments. 

RESPONSE:  The  children  were  interested. 
Ivan  B.  was  able  to  deduce  very  correctly  which 
sound  would  be  4,  6,  8,  10,  12,  16,  after  my  ex- 
planations. 


222 


A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 


Group  I 

AIM:    Connection  of  rhythm  and  intonation. 

METHOD:  Same  as  before.  I  added  an  exer- 
cise using  the  complete  scale. 

RESPONSE:  Charlotte  V's  mother  assisted  at 
the  lesson.  Charlotte  V.  became  suddenly  a  very 
docile  little  lamb.  The  children  were  attentive 
and  reacted  very  well.  I  had  them  beat  the  meas- 
ure of  ^  3^  4^  5}  with  their  hands  and  feet, 
clapping  their  hands  on  the  strong  beat.  For  the 
first  time  they  all  did  these  exercises  correctly. 


I  tried  changing  the  measure 
into   J,  etc.    No  err 
a  zeal  unparalleled. 


into  •*,  and  | 
into   J,  etc.    No  errors.    Charlotte  led  them  with 


Group  II 

AIM:     Same  as  Group  I. 

METHOD:     Same.     I  added  to  the  exercise  on 
the  second  the  following  rhythms: 

(D  («) 


4  up  beat 


etc. 


MUSIC 


223 


Khythm  of  two  bars. 

(Which  the  children  sang.    I  played  them  on 
the  piano,  and  the  children  wrote  the  rhythms 
on  the  board.) 
RESPONSE  :     Good. 


Group  III 

AIM:  To  use  the  eighth  notes,  in  the  J,  J, 
and  |  exercises  on  intonation. 

METHOD:  Same  as  Group  III,  laying  stress 
on  the  . 


4  up  beat 


RESPONSE:    Good  for  the  girls.    Execrable  for 
the  boys. 


224 


A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 


Group  HI 

AIM  AND  METHOD:     Connection  of  rhythm  and 
intonation.    Exercises  in  thirds. 


Stenographic  Record  of  Group  III 

T.  (PTriies  following  on  the  board  and  has 
children  clap  hands  to  indicate  rhythm  of  each 
one.  Later  plays  on  the  piano  and  has  each  one 
identify  rhythm  that  he  has  played  by  pointing 
to  the  board.) 

v  r 
zr  cr 
"err 

Group  HI 

AIM:    General  review  of  rhythms  studied. 
METHOD:    Began     from     the    beginning    and 
briefly   explained   the   two   movements — up   and 


MUSIC 


226 


down — then  their  application  to  J,  J,  j,  and 
J;  next  the  different  rhythmical  values  and  their 
various  combinations.  As  this  all  seemed  well 
assimilated,  I  improvised  different  things  in 
different  rhythms,  keeping  always  the  same 
motif,  which  I  transformed  from  time  to  time  so 
that  the  pupils  could  follow  it  and  feel  the  new 
form.  Finally,  I  played  freely  and  without  pause, 
changing  the  measures,  sometimes  to  J,  some- 
times to  2>  sometimes  to  J  or  J»  the  pupils  tell- 
ing me  when  I  changed  and  describing  the  dif- 
ferent measures.  'For  example : 


RESPONSE  :    Excellent. 

Stenographic  Record  of  Group  III 
TEACHER.    We  have  studied  ?,  ?.   and  *     We 

4*4*  4 

shall  have  a  little  review  of  these  rhythms.  1 
want  to  see  whether  you  can  distinguish  not  only 
with  your  brain  but  with  your  body  and  your 
feelings  whether  there  is  a  rhythm  of  two  bars 
or  three  bars.  Now,  if  you  remember  what  I 
told  you,  it  will  not  be  difficult.  During  our  two 
last  weeks  I  shall  give  you  something  higher  than 
technique.  I  shall  play  and  show  you  how  every- 
thing I  told  you  technically  will  work.  Because 
these  are  only  the  means  that  we  are  studying,  our 


226  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

rhythm  and  intonation  correspond  to  the  study 
of  syllables  or  letters  when  you  are  learning  to 
read  and  to  understand  grammar.  But  the  most 
important  thing  in  music  is  not  grammar.  It  is 
the  beauty  and  emotion  that  comes  from  music. 
And  to  get  the  real  joy  of  it,  it  is  necessary  to 
understand  music.  There  are  people  who  like 
music  without  understanding  it;  how  much  more 
would  they  enjoy  it  if  they  understood  it ! 

In  the  simplest  rhythm  we  have  two  motions. 
One  is  naturally  more  important  than  the  other — 
that  is,  the  one  that  comes 

SYLVIA  DEL.     Down. 

T.  If  I  put  a  nail  in  a  piece  of  wood,  the  ef- 
fective blow  is  down.  So  we  have  these  rhythms. 
The  simplest  one  will  be  the  | .  One  two,  one  two. 
Now  we  have  seen  that  this  metrical  division  is 
only  a  kind  of  mechanical  division  of  the  time. 
But  we  have  different  grouping  of  two  bars,  three 
bars,  and  four  bars. 

In  a  bar  that  contains  three  beats,  the  one  is 
heavier,  ONE  two  three.  Sometimes  there  will 
be  a  certain  confusion  between  two  and  four ;  but 
there  are  certain  influences  that  will  make  it  easy 
to  distinguish  them.  You  felt  this  was  four?  Now 
I  shall  play  for  you  and  you  will  beat  and  I  shall 
see  whether  you  feel  what  I  am  playing.  You 
remember  about  the  up-beat?  What  is  an  up- 
beat? 

SUZANNE  B.      It  is  a  start. 

T.  But  we  always  start.  Is  it  starting  on  the 
strong  beat  or  before  ? 

SUZANNE  B.     Before. 

T.    So  when  I  start  this  way  (plays),  it  is  on 


MUSIC  227 

the  strong  beat,  and  when  I  start  this  way  or  this 
way  it  is  on  the  up-beat.  I  can  start  two  notes 
before  (plays)  or  three  notes  before,  (plays).  In 
an  up-beat  you  can  have  many  notes.  Now  what 
is  this?  Three  or  four? 

SUZANNE.    Four. 

T.    Does  this  J  start  on  one  or  an  up-beat? 

SYLVIA  DEL.    Up-beat. 

T.  That  is  very  good.  Now  who  will  go  to  the 
board  and  show  this  rhythm? 

SUZANNE  B.     (Writes.) 

T.    I  shall  make  another  one. 

HAEBIET  B.     (Writes.) 

GAEL  D.    I  counted  two. 

T.    You  did?    Count  again.    (Plays.) 

CARL  D.    No,  it  is  two. 

T.  This  class  is  excellent  in  knowing  rhythm. 
I  shall  play  something  and  change  my  bar. 
Listen  carefully  first,  and  when  you  feel  the 
rhythm  tell  it  to  me.  (Teacher  plays.  Pupils 
discriminate.) 

Group  IV 

COMMENTS:  The  hour  struck.  No  one  was 
there;  five  minutes;  ten  minutes.  I  went  to  see. 
They  were  playing  ball.  I  made  a  sign  to  Ivan, 
and  I  heard  him  call  the  others,  and  I  heard  also 
two  voices  answer:  "We  do  not  care  for  music!" 
in  a  contemptuous  tone.  I  asked,  "Who  does 
not  care  for  music?"  Silence.  I  repeated  the 
question,  and  added  that  I  had  no  desire  to  con- 
strain anyone — I  am  for  liberty  above  everything 
else,  theirs  and  mine  also.  If  the  master  declines 
in  his  dignity,  if  he  is  to  be  nothing  but  a  machine, 


228 


A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 


engaged  to  work  so  many  hours  a  day,  what  are 
we  coming  to?  And  what  respect  will  his  pupils 
have  for  him!  I  insisted  that  those  who  desired 
should  quit  the  room.  No  one  had  the  courage  to 
answer.  I  insisted  again,  and  at  last  Richard  L. 
went  out.  I  repeated  the  question;  Carl  D.  fol- 
lowed him.  There  remained  Ivan,  Edward  B. 
and  Richard  N.  The  last  raged  in  silence,  but 
stayed,  and  I  admired  his  will,  for  I  know  that 
at  heart,  "he  does  not  care  for  music."  The 
class  thus  reduced,  I  gave  these  explanations  on 
the  ternary  divisions  of  the  measure  g,  |,  y5. 


Group  III 
Study  of  the  measure  J 


AIM  :    Review. 
J.      Intonation. 

METHOD  :  Same  as  usual.  I  played  the  follow- 
ing new  exercises.  The  pupils  wrote  the  rhythms, 
then  the  notes.  Afterwards  they  sang  and  an- 
alyzed them. 


MUSIC  229 

Study  of  rhythm.    I  played.    Suzanne  wrote  im- 
mediately notes  and  values. 

Then  we  analyzed  the  groups  3,  3,  6.  I  ex- 
plained to  them  that  one  could  also  write  them  in 
shorter  values  and  reunite  each  group  in  a  simple 
measure,  thus,  |  (or  3). 

RESPONSE:  Good.  Suzanne  always  leading. 
The  majority  hesitated. 

COMMENT:  I  know  that  this  is  very  difficult 
for  children,  in  vacation,  to  do  rhythmic  exercises, 
when  outside  the  sun  is  shining,  the  birds  singing 
and  all  nature  calling  you.  It  is  very  hard  and 
very  far  away  from  real  music. 

I  know  also  that  the  elect  are  few.  That  very 
few  are  really  gifted.  The  others  do  not  interest 
me.  I  pity  them.  Nothing  is  so  terrible  as  to 
study  a  thing  one  does  not  love.  All  constraint 
is  odious.  For  those  who  are  "gifted"  one  end  is 
to  give  them,  little  by  little,  a  real  technique,  to 
teach  them  to  listen,  discriminate  and  judge.  The 
rest,  that  which  makes  the  very  essence  of  music, 
the  most  important  of  all,  is  of  the  emotional 
order  and  cannot  be  taught. 

As  for  technique,  what  do  I  seel  A  record  of 
a  preceding  year  says:  "The  older  groups  (II, 
III,  IV)  have  developed  not  only  the  rhythmic 
and  melodic  side,  but  also  the  harmonic.  They 
can  hear  internally,  write,  harmonize  and  trans- 
pose a  melody. "  There  is  a  grand  assertion,  but, 
I  am  sorry  it  doesn't  match  the  facts.  Except 
for  two  or  three  exceptions,  there  is  no  child  to 
which  it  can  apply.  All  depends,  besides,  on  what 
one  understands  by  these  words  "internal  hear- 


230  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

ing,"  " harmonize,"  or  what  melody  and  harmony 
it  concerns. 

I  have  absolutely  put  aside  from  these  begin- 
nings all  harmonic  idea.  Before  attempting  to 
make  the  children  hear  chords,  I  have  preferred 
to  follow  the  natural  and  historic  path,  to  develop 
first  the  rhythmic  and  melodic  sense,  which  are 
of  a  more  general  order.  To  harmonize  badly, 
arbitrarily,  a  melody  by  I V  I,  as  they  do  too  often 
in  this  country,  seems  to  me  the  worst  and  most 
dangerous  thing.  It  fixes  conventionality  first  of 
all  in  the  minds  of  these  children.  It  is  a  real 
camouflage  which  will  lead  them  astray  forever. 
I  have  seen  where  this  easy  system  leads,  by  the 
unbelievable  number  of  advanced,  even  graduated 
pupils,  who  are  ridiculously  weak  in  harmony  and 
cannot  later  get  rid  of  I  V  I,  when  they  have  to 
harmonize  the  chorales  of  Bach.  It  limits  strictly 
their  vocabulary  and  their  understanding.  It  is 
an  easy  road  to  choose,  certainly  dazzling  for  the 
ignorant,  but  it  closes  the  door  to  truth  and 
beauty. 

I  have  been  much  more  humble.  I  have  limited 
myself  to  little  things.  But  there  are  no  little 
things  in  art.  To  study  a  principle  to  the  bottom 
and  to  incite  the  children  to  reflect,  to  open  all 
the  possibilities  to  them,  seems  to  me  more  im- 
portant than  to  give  them  a  varnish,  without  so- 
lidity, which  will  not  last. 

I  have  done  little,  but  I  believe  that,  for  the 
few  who  are  the  "elect,"  it  will  not  be  lost. 


MUSIC  231 

Stenographic  Record  of  Group  III 

TEACHER.    We  have   taken   now  the   different 
bars,  that  is,  |,  J,  J.    J ,  is  a  combination  of  what? 
SUZANNE  B.     Three  and  two. 
T.J1 

ELIZABETH.  A.     Three  and  three. 
T.    And   I   is  a  combination  of   2    and    *,  so 

4  44' 

when  one  knows  two  and  three  one  knows  almost 
everything.  Now  if  I  make  this  (one  two  three) 
it  will  be  |.  It  would  be  exactly  the  same  if  I 
chose  a  division  where  every  beat  will  be  shorter. 
Instead  of  having  a  quarter  note  for  instance, 
I  could  have  an  eighth.  I  could  write  |.  Sup- 
posing now  I  were  playing  something  very  quick, 
and  would  have  to  make  a  combination  of  two 
bars,  just  as  we  are  building  up  a  J  with  two 
J.  What  is  the  new  measure  I  would  get? 

SUZANNE.      | . 

T.  And  every  beat  will  have  three-eighths,  or 
I  can  write  it  with  a  quarter  note  and  a  dot.  The 
quarter  counts  for  two-eighths  and  the  dot  for  one- 
eighth.  So  this  is  the  division  in  three.  |  will 
be  beaten  like  ^  but  every  beat  will  have  how 
many  notes? 

HARRIET  B.     Three. 

T.    If  I  make  a  division  of  J ,  where  every  beat 

will  have  three  notes,  I  will  have  this,  J 

or    JT]  JT3  J73  '    What  wil1  I  have  here? 
SUZANNE.    £ . 

O 


232  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

T.  If  I  have  the  *,  how  many  eighths  will  I 
have? 

ELIZABETH  A.    **. 

T.  I  will  show  you  the  difference.  (Plays.) 
What  is  this! 

CARL  D.     f . 

T.  Here  is  a  little  song  that  is  a  kind  of  a 
lullaby  for  children.  How  does  it  begin?  (Plays.) 

SUZANNE.    Up-beat. 

T.  This  is  a  little  French  song.  Probably 
there  are  a  lot  in  English  too.  I  want  you  not 
only  to  see  the  bar,  but  we  shall  analyze  it  and 
see  how  it  is  done.  When  you  analyze  a  house 
you  say  it  has  so  many  rooms,  so  many  living 
rooms,  so  many  bedrooms,  a  porch,  a  garden, 
etc.  So  in  music.  Now  how  about  the  form  of 
this  little  piece?  Is  this  a  sentence?  (Plays.) 

CARL  D.    Yes. 

T.  Is  there  a  stop  in  the  middle  of  it  or  not? 
CARL  D.  Yes. 

T.  There  is  a  kind  of  punctuation  in  music. 
We  have  commas,  periods,  etc.  You  tell  me 
where  there  is  a  comma  and  where  there  is  a 
period.  (Plays.) 

SUZANNE.    There  is  a  comma  where  you  stop. 

T.    And  what  comes  here? 

SUZANNE.    A  period. 

T.  (Plays.)  Is  this  something  new  or  a  repe- 
tition of  what  we  have  had? 

ELIZABETH  A.     Something  new. 

T.    Do  you  feel  there  is  a  difference? 

PUPILS.    Yes.     (All  together.) 

T.    What  is  this?  (Sings.) 

HARRIET  B.     |. 


MUSIC  233 

T.    How  does  it  begin? 

ELIZABETH  A.    With  an  up-beat.     (Writes  on 
board.) 


T.  I  am  teaching  you  a  thing  that  every  com- 
poser, every  conductor,  and  every  musician  ought 
to  know.  Unhappily,  many  do  not  know  it.  The 
division  in  bars  is  the  necessity  of  dividing  time, 
as  I  told  you  in  our  first  lesson.  It  has  no  mean- 
ing, but  is  a  kind  of  necessity  just  as  there  must 
be  an  end  of  a  line  in  books.  First  we  begin  with 
an  up-beat.  (Sings.)  Now  you  will  remember 
that  I  told  you  that  an  up-beat  will  affect  the 
whole  construction  of  the  piece.  We  start  that 
way  and  probably  when  the  new  sentence  comes 
we  shall  have  to  start  the  same  way.  Can  you 
tell  me  whether  in  the  little  sentence  there  is  a 
division  somewhere? 

SUZANNE  B.    Yes. 

T.  Here  would  be  the  first;  (sings) — and  here 
the  second.  So  the  end  is  here.  You  see  the 
second  part  begins  again  on  an  up-beat.  This 
first  sentence  ends  on  a  "C."  This  is  what  you 
call  a  home  tone.  But  why  is  it  not  finished  here? 

SUZANNE  B.    This  is  a  longer  note. 

ELIZABETH  A.      It  doesn't  feel  long  enough. 

T.  I  will  show  you  the  most  simple  reason. 
Look  at  my  feet.  (Beats  time  with  feet  and  stops 
ivith  one  foot  in  the  air.)  Can  I  rest? 

PUPILS.    No. 


234 


A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 


ELIZABETH  A.  I  think  it  ought  to  be  directly 
after  the  bar. 

T.  You  see?  Now  we  will  take  the  second 
part.  (Writes.) 


How  about  the  divisions? 

SUZANNE  B.     It  is  like  four  little  fragments. 

T.  Do  you  feel  it  the  same?  Here  is  the  form 
of  the  little  piece.  (Sings.)  Now  this  is  a  very 
simple  form,  but  this  is  the  principle  of  every 
great  composition  in  music.  We  have  a  greater 
division  here;  let  us  call  it  A.  Let  us  call  this 
B,  and  here  comes  A  again.  So  it  makes  ABA. 
Can  you  show  me  something  that  is  similar  to 
this?  In  a  church,  for  example.  (Draws  on 
board.)  It  is  a  balance. 


n 


orruj~i 


ELIZABETH  A.  Like  the  rhymes  in  the  poems 
in  our  literature  class?  First  line  rhymes  with 
third. 

T.  It  is  a  balance,  ABA.  I  shall  show  you 
another  example.  I  shall  play  you  something 


MUSIC  235 

that  is  sung  in  the  schools  in  Switzerland.  You 
see  here  we  have  again  two  fragments.  What  is 
the  rhythm? 

SUZANNE  B.     |. 

T.    Again  J.    (Plays.) 

Groups  II,  III,  IV 

AIM:     Study  of  «,  »,  \2 . 

Becapitulation. 

Measure  and  rhythm. 

Form. 

Punctuation  of  musical  speech. 

First  principles  of  aesthetics. 
METHOD  :    As  before.    To  make  the  child  under- 
stand the  measure  and  then  the  rhythm  and  form, 
helping  himself  with  his  feet  and  his  hands,  in 
counting,  in  singing,  and  then  in  silence. 

The  last  lessons  have  been  devoted  almost  ex- 
clusively to  this  work.  I  have  played  numberless 
French  folk  songs,  short  for  the  most  part,  in 
measures  J,  j,  },  f,  |,  |,  with  rhythms  very 
often  complicated.  The  children  should  dis- 
criminate; point  out  first  the  measure;  if  it  is 
an  up-beat  or  not ;  then  mark  the  musical  punctu- 
ation, comma,  semi-colon,  question  mark  or 
period;  they  should  recognize  the  principal 
phrase,  the  secondary  phrase,  and  the  return 
when  there  is  one.  And  not  only  feel  and  ob- 
serve, but  reason  and  analyse  their  impressions. 
KESPONSES  :  Excellent  for  the  gifted  pupils. 
COMMENTS:  None;  see  the  preface  to  these 
notes. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY 

BY  DR.  FLORENCE  MATEER 

THE  chief  aim  of  the  laboratory  was  the  study 
of  each  child  in  the  school  in  order  that  all  might 
better  know  him  as  an  individual,  better  meet  his 
needs  and  more  easily  help  him  to  his  rightful 
enjoyment  of  the  knowledge  offered  him.  Through 
even  a  partial  fulfillment  of  this  aim  we  hoped 
to  justify  the  existence  of  the  laboratory  itself. 

The  work  was  undertaken  in  a  purely  experi- 
mental manner,  the  preconceived  ruts  of  proper 
procedure  in  educational  psychology  were  avoided 
whenever  possible.  The  psychologist  came  into 
the  school  as  a  teacher  who  was  studying  the  chil- 
dren in  order  "to  help  the  other  teachers  teach 
things  that  suit  you  best  and  are  what  you  need." 
This  same  attitude  of  adapting  to  the  emergency 
of  the  moment  in  a  common-sense  way  but  of  us- 
ing in  that  adaptation  all  that  psychology  had  to 
give  was  the  basis  of  the  work  with  teachers, 
classes  and  parents. 

The  methods  used  will  reveal  themselves  in  the 
detailed  report  following.  It  will  suffice  to  say 
here  that  the  tests  given  were  applied  in  the  ac- 
cepted clinical  fashion,  the  interpretations  drawn 
were  conservative,  the  recommendations  made 

239 


240  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

were  such  as  behooved  one  believing  fully  the 
principles  of  preventive  mental  hygiene,  while  the 
whole  attempt  was  an  exploratory  experiment 
which  has  left  those  carrying  it  through  eager 
for  its  continuation. 

The  program  tentatively  outlined  for  comple- 
tion during  the  summer  embraced  six  different 
problems. 

1.  A  preliminary  mental  survey  of  all  children 
in  the  school  by  an  abbreviated  system  of  mental 
tests.    This  survey  would  probably  indicate  some 
of  the  bigger  problems  confronting  us. 

2.  An  intensive  study  of  each  child  in  the 
school,  by  a  full  use  of  accepted  mental  test  series, 
together  with  tests  to  ascertain  the  general  ori- 
entation and  practical  information  of  the  child, 
a  survey  of  his  ability  in  school  subjects,  and  the 
use  of  a  series  of  performance  tests  as  the  need 
was   indicated  by  the  child's  ability   on  other 
things. 

3.  It  was  planned,  indefinitely,  to  have  each 
teacher  make  some  estimates  of  the  work  done  by 
the  children  in  his  classes.    This  was  to  be  done 
in  such  a  way  that  it  would  help  the  teacher  to 
see  each  child  more  clearly  as  an  individual;  to 
help  in  obtaining  estimates  of  the  relative  ability 
of  the  same  child  in  the  various  departments ;  and 
also  to  help  throw  some  light  on  how  each  teacher 
regarded  his  own  work. 

4.  Sufficient  visiting  and  getting  acquainted 
with  the  parents  to  make  possible  the  passing  on 
to  them  of  any  findings  regarding  their  children 
which  might  be  helpful  to  them  in  bringing  them 
up. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      241 

5.  All  possible  mental  hygiene  work  with  the 
children  in  groups  or  as  individuals.    This  could 
not  be  planned  beforehand  but  must  necessarily 
be  developed  out  of  the  need  for  it  which  would 
show  itself  as  the  work  with  individuals  pro- 
ceeded. 

6.  The  daily  mingling  with  the  teachers,  as 
one  of  them  attempting  to  give  the  laboratory 
findings  to  them  in  such  a  way  that  they  would  be 
helpful  and  would  properly  but  not  too  strongly 
modify  the  teachers'  attitude  towards  the  chil- 
dren; to  encourage  also  any  requests  for  such 
help  on  school  problems  as  might  be  given  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  laboratory  findings. 

1.    PRELIMINAEY  SUEVEY. 

The  first  day  of  the  school  term  was  spent  help- 
ing the  school  physician  inspect  all  of  the  children. 
They  were  weighed,  measured  and  all  serious  de- 
fects of  heart,  throat,  and  lungs  were  noted.  This 
gave  a  short  list  of  children  whose  playground 
activities  had  to  be  restricted. 

The  next  morning  we  began  a  mental  survey 
of  the  school  by  means  of  the  Doll  Brief  Revision 
of  the  Binet  Scale.  The  work  was  done  class  by 
class,  one  individual  after  another  being  taken  in 
systematic  fashion.  One  person  did  all  of  the 
examining  and  an  assistant  was  kept  busy  return- 
ing one  child  to  the  class  and  getting  another 
while  a  third  was  being  examined. 

Doll  has  prepared  this  brief  scale  for  such 
survey  work.  It  was  intended  primarily  for  the 
use  of  large  school  systems  which  could  not  afford 
to  spend  more  than  a  few  moments  on  the  study 


242  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

of  each  child.  It  seemed  quite  worth  while  to  try 
it  out  even  in  such  a  small  school,  however,  where 
the  rating  of  each  child  on  the  survey  need  not 
materially  affect  his  future  but  where  any  error 
in  his  ranking  would  almost  immediately  be  cor- 
rected by  the  findings  gained  through  the  use  of 
a  much  more  intensive  examination.  The  com- 
parison of  these  two  sets  of  findings  on  the  same 
children  would  also  give  some  indications  of  the 
value  of  the  brief  scale  for  use  in  school  systems 
which  feel  they  cannot  take  the  time  to  make  more 
intensive  studies. 

The  tests  were  used  in  actual  survey  fashion, 
not  allowed  to  lapse  into  a  slow,  more  intensive 
examination  of  the  child,  but  on  an  average  a  new 
child  was  greeted,  acquaintance  made  and  the  test- 
ing completed  in  ten  minutes.  This  seems  to  be  in 
accord  with  Doll's  plan  for  its  use,  as  he  says 
"individual  subjects  can  be  examined  by  the  scale 
in  from  five  to  ten  minutes."  Where  the  children 
passed  a  mental  age  of  ten  on  this  brief  scale,  the 
suggested  brief  revision  of  the  Stanford  scale  was 
used  to  supplement  the  easier  scale. 

The  brief  scale  was  not  hard  to  use,  and  all  of 
the  children  present,  thirty-two  in  all,  were  ex- 
amined in  two  mornings  without  any  one  being 
kept  from  Morning  Exercises,  play,  or  rest 
periods.  The  other  children  were  easily  tested  as 
they  came  in  one  or  two  a  day. 

The  scale  is  easy  to  use  with  the  younger  chil- 
dren but  rather  hard  to  put  over  with  older  chil- 
dren and  it  also  takes  longer  with  them.  The  one 
test  of  having  them  see  how  many  words  they  can 
say  in  three  minutes  is  especially  inappropriate. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      243 

It  takes  too  long  and  is  too  hard  to  give  compared 
with  most  others  of  the  regular  series,  unless  the 
child  has  become  fairly  well  acquainted  with  the 
examiner.  A  five  or  ten  minutes  period  gives 
little  chance  for  any  such  overcoming  of  difficul- 
ties in  a  speechbound  adolescent. 

In  all,  our  work  on  the  survey  included  38  chil- 
dren, three  of  whom  dropped  out  of  school  before 
intensive  examinations  could  be  made  on  them. 
These  38  children  ranged  in  mentality,  by  t^ie  sur- 
vey, from  a  retardation  of  3.5  years  in  a  thirteen- 
year-old  child  to  an  acceleration  of  two  years  in 
one  eight  and  one  seven-year-old  child.  The  in- 
telligence quotients — or  the  ratio  of  mental  age 
to  chronological  age — ranged  from  73  to  138.  At 
least  six  of  the  children  had  mental  ages  enough 
below  their  actual  ages  to  show  the  need  for 
further  study  of  them.  All  of  these  had  intelli- 
gence quotients  of  less  than  86.  The  distribution 
of  all  of  the  children  by  intelligence  quotients  may 
be  seen  on  the  Distribution  curve. 

The  tests  did  not  pick  out  at  least  five  other 
children  who  needed  individual  study  just  as 
much  as  the  retarded  children.  These  children 
were  not  dull,  they  tested  up  to  grade  and  above 
by  the  brief  scale,  did  nothing  erratic  on  it,  but 
the  experienced  clinical  worker  could  not  help 
seeing  them  as  problem  cases  as  soon  as  she  met 
them.  These  children  are  psychotic  or  psycho- 
pathic, and  have  been  far  greater  problems  dur- 
ing the  summer  than  those  testing  low  by  the 
survey. 

Doll  claims  accuracy  for  the  brief  scale  only 
through  the  mental  age  of  nine.  A  distribution 


244 


A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 


of  the  children  to  whom  it  applies  under  these 
conditions  does  not  seem  to  influence  the  findings 


i  ^ 


much.  There  are  still  left  four  children  who  are 
suspiciously  dull  or  " backward"  mentally,  and 
the  rest  seem  to  be  distributed  about  the  same 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      245 


«•»:>! 


246 


A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 


as  the  general  group  including  older  children. 
The  distribution  of  these  younger  children  is  as 
seen  on  First  Survey  curve.  It  is  easily  seen  to 
be  less  regular  than  the  more  general  distribution. 


041 


All  the  older  children  were  given  also  the 
suggested  brief  Stanford  scale.  The  mental  ages 
they  scored  on  this  scale  agreed  with  the  mental 
age  on  the  brief  Binet-Simon  scale  in  some  in- 
stances, but  in  general  they  were  much  higher. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      247 

The  comparison  of  the  two  survey  mental  ages 
is  to  be  seen  on  the  preceding  chart.  In  this  all 
boys  scoring  12  (the  highest  score)  on  the  Binet- 
Simon  scale  have  been  given  an  intelligence  quo- 
tient of  100,  even  if  over  12  years  old — the  test 
allows  no  higher  score. 

Any  further  discussion  of  the  findings  from  this 
survey  can  be  made  only  as  they  are  studied  in 
connection  with  the  findings  from  the  more  in- 
tensive examinations.  Personally,  the  writer 
feels  the  brief  scale  to  be  of  very  little  use,  save 
to  the  amateur.  One  who  is  accustomed  to  han- 
dling children  can,  in  the  same  length  of  time,  gain 
far  more  satisfactory  knowledge  from  a  less- 
routine  questioning  of  the  child.  This  shows  up 
the  retarded  child  equally  well,  the  nervous,  psy- 
chotic, and  erratic  child  far  better. 

2.    INTENSIVE  INDIVIDUAL  STUDIES. 

In  any  school  system  where  the  children  are 
taught  in  even  small  groups  there  is  a  definite 
need  for  some  kind  of  work  whereby  the  individual 
shall  be  recognized.  Education  has  been  too  much 
a  plan  for  the  handling  of  masses,  for  giving  them 
training  suited  to  the  needs  of  the  mass  and  for 
expecting  a  certain  type  of  behavior  from  the 
group  as  a  whole.  One  reason  for  the  intensive 
study  of  each  child  in  the  laboratory  this  summer 
was  to  supply  that  exact  information  regarding 
the  child's  actual  mental  status  which  would  help 
in  maximizing  our  ideas  of  him  as  an  individual. 

We  began  working  with  the  children  who,  ac- 
cording to  the  brief  survey  examination,  seemed 
most  to  need  such  further  study.  After  the  more 
special  children  were  finished  we  examined  the 


248  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

rest  of  the  younger  children.  By  that  time  the 
older  children  were  so  curious  about  the  things 
that  were  done  in  the  laboratory  that  they  re- 
garded coming  to  us  there  as  an  adventure  and  a 
privilege  to  be  competed  for. 

All  of  the  children  were  given  first  of  all  a  series 
of  informal  questions  relating  to  their  homes, 
brothers  and  sisters,  where  they  lived,  what  they 
did  to  earn  money,  what  they  read,  current  events 
and  even  their  practical  judgment  of  such  things 
as  distances,  lengths,  etc.  These  were  all  things 
a  child  learns  regardless  of  what  he  has  been 
taught  in  school  and  were  varied  for  each  child. 

The  next  part  of  the  examination  was  the  giv- 
ing of  the  Stanf  ord-Binet  Scale  in  order  to  ascer- 
tain the  actual  mental  age  of  the  child.  This  was 
given  in  absolutely  standard  fashion,  the  child 
being  given  every  possible  chance  to  do  things 
even  when  they  were  thought  to  be  above  his 
actual  ability.  After  this  we  surveyed  briefly  his 
ability  in  school  subjects,  having  him  read,  write, 
spell,  do  arithmetic  to  the  limit  of  his  ability,  and 
show  us  what  he  knew  in  language  and  geography. 
The  examination  also  included  the  use  of  per- 
formance tests,  such  as  the  Seguin  Form  Board, 
Healy  A  and  B,  the  Goddard  Adaptation  Board, 
an  imitation  series,  and  other  tests  as  the  work 
with  the  individual  indicated  the  need  of  them. 
We  then  finished  by  giving  the  anthropometrio 
measurements  used  by  Smedly  and  others  to  ob- 
tain some  indication  of  the  child's  normality  of 
growth  and  of  relative  psycho-motor  control. 

The  procedure  was  absolutely  informal  and  is 
typified  by  the  following  detailed  report  of  the 
whole  examination  on  Dane  Cummings. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      249 
PSYCHOLOGICAL   EXAMINATION 

OF 

DANE 

July  30,  1918 
General  Information  Test 

DR.  M.    When  is  your  birthday? 

DANE.    December  7th. 

DR.  M.    How  old  are  you! 

DANE.     Ten. 

DR.  M.    In  what  year  were  you  born? 

DANE.     1907. 

DR.  M.  What  grade  are  you  going  into  this 
fall,  in  school? 

DANE.     The  sixth. 

DR.  M.  That  is  pretty  good  for  a  ten-and-a- 
half-year-old  boy. 

DANE.  I  could  have  been  in  the  seventh  but  I 
didn't  want  to  leave  my  classmates.  They  were 
all  older  than  I  was. 

DR.  M.  I  think  you  are  far  enough  along  for 
a  boy  of  your  age.  You  probably  know  the  things 
better  than  you  would  if  you  did  go  along  faster. 
Do  you  have  to  take  books  home  at  night  to  study? 

DANE.  No,  not  very  often.  The  teacher  says 
we  are  too  young  to  take  home  books. 

DR.  M.  You  have  a  very  sensible  teacher, 
haven't  you? 

DANE.  Both  of  them  said  that.  We  had  two 
during  the  year. 

DR.  M.  I  want  to  ask  you  some  questions. 
Have  you  any  brothers  and  sisters? 

DANE.    One  sister. 


250  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 


DR.  M.    How  old  is  she? 

DANE.     Sixteen. 

.     .;. 

DR.  M.    What  is  her  name? 

ft 

DANE.     Margery. 

DR.  M.    Does  she  go  to  school? 

DANE.     She  is  going  to  graduate  this  year. 

DR.  M.    From  High  School? 

DANE.    Yes,  she  will  be  in  the  last  year 

of  High 

School. 

DR.  M.    What    was    your    mother's 

maiden 

name? 

DANE.    Pettee. 

DR.  M.    Where  do  you  live? 

DANE.     On  High  Street. 

DR.  M.  Is  Peterborough  a  city,  a  village  or  a 
town? 

DANE.    A  village;  no,  a  town. 

DR.  M.  Do  you  know  how  far  it  is  from 
Boston? 

DANE.    About  sixty-eight  miles,  I  guess  it  is. 

DR.  M.  Have  you  any  idea  how  much  it  costs 
to  go  to  Boston  on  the  railroad? 

DANE.    No,  about  ten  dollars.   [Actually  $2.72.] 

DR.  M.  Have  you  ever  been  to  Boston  on  the 
railroad,  on  the  train? 

DANE.  Only  when  I  was  a  little  bit  of  a  boy, 
about  1914,  I  don't  remember  it. 

DR.  M.  Have  you  been  to  any  of  the  other  big 
places  around  here? 

DANE.  Worcester,  Fitchburg,  Bellows  Falls, 
Vermont,  Springfield,  Illinois. 

DR.  M.    Which  one  have  you  been  to  last? 

DANE.  The  last  one  I  have  been  to  was  Con- 
cord, New  Hampshire. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      251 

DB.  M.  Do  you  know  how  much  it  costs  to  go 
there,  or  did  you  go  in  an  automobile? 

DANE.  I  came  back  from  there  in  the  train.  I 
think  it  costs  something  like  sixty  cents,  I  don't 
know. 

DB.  M.  I  think  that  would  be  about  the  right 
fare. 

DANE.     That  is  half  fare. 

DB.  M.  Because  you  are  not  twelve  years  old, 
are  you? 

DANE.     No. 

DB.  M.  Can  you  name  some  of  the  towns  for 
me  that  are  near  your  own  town? 

DANE.  Greenfield,  Hancock,  East  Jaffrey,  Mil- 
ford,  Milton,  Temple  and  Sharon. 

DB.  M.  Can  you  name  some  of  the  large  cities 
in  New  Hampshire  for  me  ? 

DANE.    Keene,  Concord,  Franklin,  Manchester. 

DB.  M.  Can  you  name  some  of  the  rivers  in 
New  Hampshire? 

DANE.  Connecticut,  Contoocook,  Nubanusit. 
That  is  all  in  New  Hampshire,  I  think. 

DB,  M.  Can't  you  think  of  some  of  the  easy 
names?  Can  you  spell  all  of  them? 

DANE.    Yes. 

DB.  M.    Do  you  have  them  in  school  to  study? 

DANE.  Not  all;  we  study  rivers  but  we  study 
more  of  the  larger  rivers. 

DB.  M.  Have  you  studied  the  mountains  in 
school  ? 

DANE.    Yes. 

DB.  M.  Can  you  name  some  of  the  big  moun- 
tain ranges? 


252  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

DANE.  White  Mountains,  Green  Mountains, 
Berkshire  Hills,  Appalachian  Mountains. 

DR.  M.  Do  you  know  where  the  Appalachians 
are? 

DANE.  There  is  one  large  range  seven  miles 
from  here,  Monadnock. 

DR.  M.  We  are  right  in  the  Appalachian  range 
here,  aren't  we? 

DANE.    I  don't  think  Monadnock  is. 

DR.  M.  It  isn't  one  of  the  big  mountains,  but 
they  are  what  we  call  the  foothills  of  the  mountain 
range. 

DANE.  There  are  some  fairly  large  mountains 
that  you  can  see  over  there.  My  mother  used  to 
live  right  near  those  mountains. 

DR.  M.    Before  she  was  married? 

DANE.  Yes,  you  can  see  them  where  I  go  Sun- 
days. 

DR.  M.  Who  is  the  Governor  of  New  Hamp- 
shire? 

DANE.    Henry  W.  Keyes. 

DR.  M.  Do  you  know  who  the  President  of  the 
United  States  is? 

DANE.    President  Wilson. 

DR.  M.    Who  is  the  king  of  England? 

DANE.     George. 

DR.  M.    Do  you  read  the  newspapers? 

DANE.  A  little  bit;  I  just  read  the  headlines 
sometimes. 

DR.  M.    What  papers  do  you  read? 

DANE.  The  Manchester  Union,  and  I  look  at 
the  Traveller  once  in  a  while  when  I  happen  to 
see  it. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      253 

DR.  M.    What  parts  do  you  like  best? 

DANE.     The  funny  section. 

DK.  M.  Can  you  tell  me  what  news  has  been  in 
the  papers  recently! 

DANE.    The  war  news. 

DR.  M.  Can  you  tell  me  any  details  of  the  war 
news! 

DANE.  Seventeen  thousand  German  soldiers 
were  captured. 

DR.  M.  Were  you  up  here  when  they  rang  the 
bells  in  Peterborough  that  night? 

DANE.    Yes,  I  didn't  like  it  either. 

DR.  M.  I  never  heard  it;  that  was  the  night 
they  captured  the  seventeen  thousand  Germans, 
wasn't  it? 

DANE.    Yes. 

DR.  M.    Do  you  like  to  read  story  books? 

DANE.  I  read  them  in  winter  some,  but  I  don't 
like  them  much  in  the  summer  because  there  are 
so  many  other  things  to  do  in  the  summer. 

DR.  M.  But  you  like  to  read  them  in  the  winter 
time? 

DANE.    Yes. 

DR.  M.  Can  you  tell  me  the  names  of  one  or 
two  that  you  like  especially? 

DANE.     Mark  Tidd  Books. 

DR.  M.    What  are  they  about? 

DANE.  About  a  big  fat  boy  who  stutters  and  he 
is  awful  funny. 

DR.  M.    What  does  he  do? 

DANE.  Well,  in  one  book  he  is  a  butcher,  in 
another  book  he  runs  a  store,  in  another  he  has 
a  cave  for  a  club  room.  I  haven't  read  all  of 
them,  I  have  read  a  part  of  one  and  a  part  of 


254  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

another.  Mark  was  in  business  in  one  book,  and 
in  one  he  was  running  a  store. 

DR.  M.  Can  you  tell  me  about  how  high  that 
door  over  there  is? 

DANE.    About  seven  feet.     [Actually  6  feet.] 

DR.  M.  Good.  About  how  long  is  this  pen  I 
am  using? 

DANE.     About  five  and  a  half  inches. 

DR.  M.  That  is  about  right.  Do  you  know  how 
tall  you  are? 

DANE.  About  four  feet  seven.  I  am  not  sure, 
or  four  feet  six.  [4  feet  5%  inches.] 

DR.  M.     How  much  do  you  weigh? 

DANE.  Down  at  school  I  weighed  seventy  and 
a  half. 

DR.  M.    What  size  shoe  do  you  wear? 

DANE.  Two  and  a  half  and  three.  I  have  two 
pairs  of  two  and  a  half  and  one  pair  of  three. 

DR.  M.  What  does  a  pair  of  shoes  cost?  Can 
you  give  me  some  general  idea? 

DANE.  Yes.  These  I  have  on  cost  two  dollars. 
Men  have  to  pay  ten  and  twelve  dollars  for  shoes. 

DR.  M.  They  are  more  expensive  now,  aren't 
they? 

DANE.  Yes,  because  they  use  them  for  the  sol- 
diers. 

DR.  M.    What  does  a  cap  cost,  for  a  boy? 

DANE.  Most  of  them  cost  sixty  cents.  They 
were  fifty  cents  but  they  went  up. 

DR.  M.     What  do  gloves  cost,  do  you  know? 

DANE.    About  a  dollar  I  guess. 

DR.  M.    Can  you  name  some  flowers  for  me? 

DANE.  The  modern  ones  raised  in  the  gardens 
or  in  the  woods? 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      255 

DR.  M.    Any  kind  at  all. 

DANE.    Violets,  tulips,  roses,  hyacinths. 

DR.  M.    Name  some  vegetables  for  me. 

DANE.  Beans,  beets,  radishes,  onions,  lettuce, 
cucumbers.  That  is  just  what  I  have  in  my 
garden. 

DB.  M.    You  have  all  those  in  your  garden? 

DANE.    Yes. 

DR.  M.    Did  you  plant  them  yourself? 

DANE.  No,  not  all  of  them.  I  had  a  man  help 
me. 

DR.  M.  Did  you  get  the  free  seeds  from  the 
school  or  did  you  have  to  buy  your  seeds  ? 

DANE.  A  man  gave  me  some  and  I  had  to  pay 
four  cents,  the  cent  packages.  I  didn't  have  to 
pay  anything.  My  father  had  some  Government 
seeds  sent  to  him  and  they  gave  us  some  Govern- 
ment seeds  at  the  school  and  then  a  man  gave  me 
some. 

DR.  M.  The  Government  seeds  are  good  too, 
aren't  they? 

DANE.     Yes,  much  better  than  some  I  bought. 

DR.  M.  I  should  think  so  because  they  are  all 
tried  out.  They  are  the  ones  they  have  found 
to  be  good. 

DANE.    Yes. 

DR.  M.  Can  you  describe  the  streets  of  Peter- 
borough a  little  bit  to  me  so  I  would  know  some- 
thing about  it  if  I  had  never  been  there? 

DANE.  There  is  a  town  hall  and  a  fine  his- 
torical building.  There  is  a  nice  building  being 
built  right  opposite  the  historical  building  which 
is  going  to  be  the  same  form  as  the  historical 
building. 


256  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

DR.  M.    What  is  it  going  to  be  used  for? 

DANE.  For  the  Cattle  Club.  There  are  three 
grocery  stores  and  two  of  those  are  department 
stores.  There  is  a  shoe  store.  There  is  a  station 
here  where  the  Boston  &  Maine  Railroad  comes 
in,  and  a  fruit  store  and  two  meat  stores  and  a 
printing  office,  a  restaurant,  a  hotel,  cafeteria  and 
stable  and  two  garages. 

DR.  M.  Now  I  think  you  left  out  a  very  im- 
portant kind  of  store,  especially  in  hot  weather 
when  people  like  to  eat  ice  cream. 

DANE.  Two  drug  stores.  One  had  an  explosion 
in  it. 

DR.  M.  They  haven't  opened  up  again,  have 
they? 

DANE.     They  are  fixing  it  up. 

DR.  M.  What  did  you  see  on  your  way  to 
school  this  morning? 

DANE.  I  saw  the  woods,  the  pond,  and  a  pretty 
house. 

DR.  M.    Whose  house? 

DANE.  That  second  house  as  you  go  around 
the  pond  that  has  the  green  blinds  on  it. 

DR.  M.    The  one  that  is  closed? 

DANE.    Yes. 

DR.  M.    That  is  pretty.    Too  bad  it  isn't  open. 

DANE.    And  one  on  the  State  Road. 

DR.  M.  Now  tell  me  what  kind  of  a  job  you 
would  like  when  you  grow  up,  Dane.  Have  you 
any  idea? 

DANE.  I  wanted  somebody  to  ask  me  that.  I 
don't  know  what  I  would  like  to  be. 

DR.  M.  Why  have  you  been  wanting  some- 
body to  ask  you,  so  you  could  talk  it  over? 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      257 

DANE.  Yes.  The  teacher  I  had  the  first  of  this 
year,  she  asked  the  class  last  year,  and  I  wonder 
if  she  is  going  to  ask  us  this  year.  I  hope  she  is. 
I  think  I  would  like  to  be  manager  of  some  office 
or  something  like  that,  like  my  father. 

DR.  M.    Is  he  a  manager  of  an  office! 

DANE.    Yes. 

DR.  M.    Of  a  printing  office  ? 

DANE.    Yes. 

DR.  M.  How  much  schooling  do  you  suppose 
you  would  have  to  have  to  hold  a  job  like  that? 

DANE.    Four  years  I  guess. 

DR.  M.    Go  through  High  School? 

DANE.    Yes. 

DR.  M.    Then  what  would  you  do? 

DANE.  If  I  was  going  to  be  a  soldier  I  would 
like  to  go  to  West  Point,  but  I  think  I  would  like 
to  go  to  Dartmouth. 

DR.  M.  Have  you  ever  earned  any  money, 
Dane? 

DANE.    Yes. 

DR.  M.  Are  you  doing  anything  regularly 
that  you  earn  any  money  for? 

DANE.    In  the  winter  I  do. 

DR.  M.    What  do  you  do? 

DANE.  Carry  out  ashes  for  my  father  for 
twenty-five  cents  a  week. 

DR.  M.  What  do  you  do  with  your  money, 
spend  it  for  anything  you  wish? 

DANE.  I  did  until  Christmas,  then  I  had  a 
thrift  card  given  to  me  Christmas  with  a  few 
stamps  on  it  and  I  spent  the  rest  of  the  money 
on  that. 

DR.  M.    Have  you  any  filled  up? 


258  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

DANE.  Yes,  I  have  one  filled  up  and  one  with 
four  on  it. 

DR.  M.  What  do  you  like  to  do  best  when  you 
do  not  have  to  work? 

DANE.    I  like  to  go  in  swimming  pretty  well. 

DR.  M.    Where  do  you  go? 

DANE.     In  the  playground. 

DB.  M.    Down  in  the  village,  in  the  town? 

DANE.    Yes. 

DR.  M.    Do  you  play  baseball? 

DANE.     Some.    I  can't  very  well,  though. 

DR.  M.    What  do  you  play,  what  position? 

DANE.  About  every  one.  I  play  in  the  field  as 
well  as  any  because  that  is  about  all  I  could  do. 

DR.  M.  Do  you  know  how  much  a  baseball 
costs? 

DANE.  Five  cents,  ten  cents,  twenty-five  cents, 
fifty  cents,  a  dollar  and  a  dollar  and  a  quarter. 

DR.  M.  Good  for  you.  Did  you  ever  do  any 
cooking  aside  from  your  being  up  here  in  camp? 

DANE.    No. 

DR.  M.  Have  you  seen  your  mother  do  cook- 
ing? 

DANE.    Yes. 

DR.  M.  Do  you  know  how  long  it  takes  to  soft- 
boil  an  egg? 

DANE.  About  four  minutes,  something  like 
that.  I  think  four  or  five  minutes. 

DR.  M.  That  is  very  good.  How  long  does  it 
take  to  bake  a  potato? 

DANE.    Ten  minutes. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      259 

Stanford-Binet  Examination 

DR.  M.  Now,  Dane,  these  little  blocks  are  all 
of  different  weights.  I  want  you  to  take  them  and 
put  them  all  in  a  row  from  heaviest  to  lightest, — 
first  the  heaviest  one,  then  the  next  heaviest,  and 
then  the  next  until  you  have  them  all  in  a  row. 
Be  very  careful. 

DANE.    That  one,  and  that  one. 

DR.  M.  Let  me  see  if  they  are  right.  That 
is  exactly  right.  Let  me  see  if  you  can  do  it  again. 
You  might  be  able  to  do  it  once  by  chance,  but  let 
me  see  if  you  can  do  it  twice. 

DANE.  (After  finishing  it.)  I  think  that  is 
right,  I  don't  know. 

DR.  M.  No,  you  went  too  fast  that  time  and 
you  made  two  very  bad  mistakes.  Go  carefully 
this  time.  This  is  your  very  last  chance. 

(Dane  completes  the  work.) 

DR.  M.  Good,  that  is  exactly  right,  not  one 
mistake.  Now  I  want  to  see  how  good  a  memory 
you  have,  Dane.  See  if  you  can  say  these  num- 
bers for  me.  2-9-1-6-3. 

DANE.     2-9-1-6-3. 

DR.  M.    And  this :    3-7-4-8-5-9. 

DANE.     2-7-4-8-5-9. 

DR.  M.    Now  try  this  set:  5-2-1-7-4-6. 

DANE.    5-2-1-7-4-6. 

DR.  M.  Now  let  us  see  if  you  can  do  this  hard 
set:  2-1-8-3-^-3-9. 

DANE.     2-1-8-3-4-3-9. 

DR.  M.  That  is  quite  a  hard  one  for  you.  Now 
try  this  very  hard  one.  Some  grown  people  can't 
do  it.  7-2-5-3-4-8-9. 


260  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

DANE.    7-3-2-4-8-9-6. 

DR.  M.    That  is  pretty  good.     Try  this  one: 


DANE.    4-5-3-7-8-9-6-2. 

DR.  M.  One  more.  This  is  the  last  set  of 
these.  8-3-7-9-5-4-8-2. 

DANE.    8-3-7-4-9-8-2. 

DR.  M.  That  is  quite  good.  Now  I  want  to 
see  if  you  can  say  some  numbers  backwards  for 
me.  If  I  say  6-1  can  you  begin  with  the  last 
number  I  say  and  say  them  the  other  way. 

DANE.     1-6. 

DR.  M.    2-8-3. 

DANE.     3-8-2. 

DR.  M.    Good.    6-5-2-8. 

DANE.     8-2-5-6. 

DR.  M.  Right.  Here  is  another  one  a  little 
bit  harder.  3-1-9-7-2. 

DANE.     2-9-7-3-1. 

DR.  M.    And  this  one:  6-9-4-8-2. 

DANE.     2-6-4-8-2. 

DR.  M.  No,  you  made  a  mistake  there  but  you 
may  have  another  trial.  Try  this  one;  that  was 
pretty  hard,  wasn't  it?  It  is  much  harder  to  say 
them  this  way.  5-2-9-6-1. 

DANE.     1-6-9-5-2. 

DR.  M.  We  will  catch  some  of  the  other  boys 
on  these  I  think. 

DANE.     I  don't  think  you  will  in  our  group. 

DR.  M.  I  don't  think  Andrew  could  do  all  of 
them. 

DANE.  In  group  IV  I  don't  think  you  could 
eatch  anybody  because  they  are  all  older  than  I 
am. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      261 

DR.  M.  You  did  all  of  thorn  that  a  boy  of  your 
age  needs  to.  You  didn  't  do  the  twelve-year  old, 
that  is  all.  You  are  not  supposed  to  do  the  twelve- 
year-old  ones. 

DANE.  You  wouldn't  think  I  was  older  than 
Andrew  and  Edward. 

DB.  M.  You  wouldn't,  would  you,  because  they 
are  so  big.  You  are  not  very  much  older  than 
Andrew? 

DANE.  Thirteen  days  and  about  two  months 
and  thirteen  days  older  than  Edward. 

DB.  M.  They  are  both  very  much  larger  than 
you  are.  They  are  growing  faster  you  see  but 
you  will  catch  up  with  them.  You  will  be  just  as 
tall  as  they  are.  Now  I  want  to  see  how  quickly 
your  mind  thinks,  Dane.  I  want  you  to  say  for 
me  all  the  words  you  can  say  in  three  minutes, 
that  are  names  of  things,  like  cat,  table,  necktie, 
grass.  Did  you  do  that  before? 

DANE.  Yes.  Watch,  hand,  number,  desk,  table, 
scales,  fireplace,  lady,  hat,  glass,  box,  door,  screen, 
necktie,  blouse,  trousers,  stockings,  shoes,  shoe- 
strings, matches,  pins,  band,  violin,  trombone, 
drum,  cymbal,  dish,  pan,  knife,  fork,  spoon,  table, 
clock,  leg,  floor,  bricks,  marble,  stone,  trees, 
needle,  bracket,  mountain,  hill,  horse,  pony,  cow, 
mule,  donkey,  calf,  lion,  tiger,  leopard,  bear,  pig, 
chicken,  hen,  rooster,  dog,  cat,  kitten. 

DB.  M.    That  is  good;  go  ahead. 

DANE.  Pipe,  radiator,  lock,  key,  house,  cabin, 
shanty,  pavilion,  sulphur,  silver,  water,  faucet, 
tumbler,  basin,  blueberry,  strawberry,  raspberry, 
blackberry,  red  berries. 


262 


A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 


DB.  M.  Good;  that  is  very  good.  You  said 
seventy  some. 

DANE.    That  is  more  than  I  did  the  other  time. 

DB.  M.  How  many  did  you  do  the  other  time, 
do  you  remember? 

DANE.    Sixty-seven. 

DB.  M.  Just  seventy-nine  I  have.  Now,  next, 
Dane,  I  wish  you  to  do  some  drawing  for  me.  I 
am  going  to  show  you  a  card,  which  I  wish  you 
to  look  at  very  carefully.  When  I  take  it  away 
I  want  you  to  draw  both  of  the  things  on  the  card, 
at  least  as  much  as  you  can  remember  of  the 
things  on  the  card.  You  are  only  going  to  see  it 
for  ten  seconds  so  you  must  look  very  carefully. 

(Dane  draws.) 


DB.  M.    They  are  both  right. 

Here  is  something  else  for  you  to  draw.  This 
is  supposed  to  be  a  field  and  this  is  the  fence  the 
whole  way  around  the  field.  This  is  the  gateway. 
A  man  was  in  the  field  and  he  lost  his  watch  some- 
where in  the  field.  We  do  not  know  where  it  was 
but  we  know  it  must  be  somewhere  in  the  field.  I 
want  you  to  start  here  at  the  gate  and  draw  with 
your  pencil  and  show  me  where  you  would  go  if 
you  were  going  to  hunt  for  that  man's  watch  so 
you  would  be  sure  to  find  it  wherever  you  go. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      263 

DANE.  You  mean  draw  a  picture  or  draw  a 
body  or  what? 

DK.  M.  No ;  just  draw  the  path  that  you  would 
take.  Draw  the  path  that  your  feet  would  take. 

DANE.  If  I  found  it  in  the  middle,  would  I 
stop? 

DR.  M.  That  is  for  you  to  plan  out  as  you 
think  best. 

DANE.     (Draws  on  the  paper.) 


DR.  M.  Good.  You  wrote  the  word  under- 
neath it. 

DANE.  Here  is  the  watch.  The  grass  was  too 
tall  there  so  I  walked  around  there  and  didn't 
see  it. 

DR.  M.  When  you  came  around  the  second 
time  you  found  it? 

DANE.    Yes,  when  I  came  here. 

DR.  M.  That  is  a  very  good  plan.  I  want  to 
see  how  well  you  can  read.  Will  you  read  that 
aloud? 

DANE.     (Reads.)     "New  York,  September  5th. 


264  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

A  fire  last  night  burned  three  houses  near  the 
center  of  the  city.  It  took  some  time  to  put  it 
out.  The  loss  was  fifty  thousand  dollars,  and 
seventeen  families  lost  their  homes.  In  saving  a 
girl  who  was  asleep  in  bed,  a  fireman  was  burned 
on  the  hands. " 

DR.  M.    Now  tell  me  what  you  read  about. 

DANE.  Read  about  a  fire  which  burned  up  three 
houses  and  seventeen  families  lost  their  homes. 
There  was  a  girl  in  bed  and  the  fireman  went  in 
and  tried  to  get  her  out  and  burned  his  hands. 

DR.  M.    Good.    Anything  else? 

DANE.  Told  the  day  it  was  written  and  said  it 
was  last  night,  meaning  the  night  before  it  was 
written  from  New  York. 

DR.  M.    What  is  the  date? 

DANE.  September  5th.  The  fire  was  Sep- 
tember fourth. 

DR.  M.  Now  I  have  a  lot  of  words  here  and 
I  want  to  see  whether  you  know  them  or  not.  I 
do  not  expect  you  to  know  all  of  them  because 
some  of  them  are  words  that  even  people  who 
have  gone  to  college  do  not  know.  Let  me  see 
how  many  of  these  you  do  know.  What  does  that 
word  mean — orange? 

DANE.    Something  you  eat. 

DR.  M.    Bonfire? 

DANE.  When  you  have  a  lot  of  rubbish  and 
dirt,  not  dirt  but  leaves,  old  grass  and  plants  or 
gardens,  you  burn  them  up. 

DR.  M.    What  do  you  mean  by  "roar"? 

DANE.  That  is  when  a  cannon  goes  off.  They 
speak  of  a  cannon  roar. 

DR.  M.    Gown? 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      265 

DANE.  Sometimes  spoken  of  as  something  you 
wear,  at  a  ball  or  something.  Sometimes  they  call 
it  a  night  gown. 

DR.  M.    What  is  "tap"? 

DANE.  When  anybody  has  done  good  they  tap 
him  on  the  shoulder  or  something  like  that. 

DR.  M.    What  is  "tap"  itself? 

DANE.  Sometimes  when  you  make  a  noise,  rap 
on  the  door. 

DR.  M.    What  is  scorch? 

DANE.  When  you  burn  your  blouse  or  some- 
thing over  fire. 

DR.  M.    And  "puddle"? 

DANE.  It  is  a  hole  in  a  road  that  men  don't 
like  very  well  when  running  an  automobile,  when 
it  is  filled  with  water,  just  after  it  rains. 

DR.  M.    What  is  an  envelope? 

DANE.  When  you  write  a  letter  you  put  the 
letter  in  an  envelope  and  send  it  off. 

DR.  M.    What  is  straw? 

DANE.  That  is  something  like  hay.  Another 
meaning  is  that  you  can  drink  through  a  straw. 

DR.  M.    Rule. 

DANE.  That  is  something  people  are  to  go  by. 
The  teacher  makes  rules;  don't  let  the  children  do 
certain  things.  They  do  it  according  to  rule. 

DR.  M.  One  meaning  is  enough  for  these. 
What  does  haste  mean? 

DANE.    Kind  of  running. 

DR.  M.    Afloat? 

DANE.  It  means  a  boat  that  men  are  thrown 
out  of;  it  goes  along  alone. 

DR.  M.    What  does  eyelash  mean? 

DANE.    It  is  a  particle  of  hair  on  your  eyes. 


266  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

DK.  M.    And  copper? 

DANE.  Something  in  a  mine.  They  make 
dishes;  they  pound,  "copper"  they  call  it. 

DR.  M.    Health! 

DANE.    To  be  well. 

DR.  M.    Curse? 

DANE.     They  send  people  away  for  that. 

DR.  M.    What  is  it? 

DANE.     Something  bad. 

DR.  M.    Guitar! 

DANE.     Some  kind  of  an  instrument  they  play. 

DR.  M.    Mellow? 

DANE.  Something  that  sounds  good.  It 
sounds  sweet  played  on  the  guitar. 

DR.  M.    What  is  pork? 

DANE.    A  kind  of  meat. 

DR.  M.    Impolite? 

DANE.  Means  to  interrupt  anybody  when  they 
are  talking. 

DR.  M.    Plumbing? 

DANE.  That  means  a  plumber  who  puts  in  bath 
rooms  in  houses  and  radiators  and  things  like 
that. 

DR.  M.    Outward? 

DANE.    Not  to  go  in,  to  go  out. 

DR.  M.     What  is  a  lecture? 

DANE.  It  means  a  man  comes  and  tells  you 
about  certain  things. 

DR.  M.  We  are  going  to  have  a  lecture  in 
Morning  Exercise  this  morning,  aren't  we? 

DANE.    Yes. 

DR.  M.    What  is  dungeon? 

DANE.     Something  like  a  prison. 

DR.  M.    And  southern,  what  does  that  mean? 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      267 

DANE.  A  person  from  down  south;  a  south- 
erner sometimes  they  call  him,  meaning  from  the 
south. 

DB.  M.    What  does  noticeable  meant 

DANE.  Something  that  doesn  't  look  very  good ; 
it  is  noticeable. 

DB.  M.    What  do  you  mean  by  noticeable? 

DANE.     People  notice  it. 

DB.  M.     Muzzle? 

DANE.  Something  you  put  on  a  dog  or  horse 
so  they  won't  bite  you. 

DB.  M.    Quake? 

DANE.  Doesn't  it  mean  a  person  coming  from 
a  Quaker?  We  call  them  Quakers. 

DB.  M.    Civil? 

DANE.     I  don't  know  that. 

DB.  M.    What  does  reception  mean? 

DANE.  When  a  man  has  done  good,  been  guard- 
ing the  border,  he  shakes  hands  with  everybody. 

DB.  M.    Ramble? 

DANE.     To  go  pretty  fast. 

DB.  M.     Skill? 

DANE.     To  know  quite  a  little. 

DB.  M.    What  does  misuse  mean? 

DANE.  To  misuse  a  word  means  to  say  the 
wrong  word. 

DB.  M.     Insure?    Do  you  know  that? 

DANE.  To  insure  your  building  means  if  you 
had  a  fire  you  can  get  some  money  if  you  have 
insurance.  If  you  insure  your  building  you  can 
get  some  money  for  it. 

DB.  M.  Do  you  know  what  a  stave  is?  You 
don't  know  all  of  these,  do  you? 

DANE.    No. 


268  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

DR.  M.    Regard! 

DANE.  Good  luck,  doesn't  it?  Best  regards 
when  a  man  is  going  to  war. 

DR.  M.    What  is  nerve? 

DANE.  A  nerve  is  part  of  the  body;  some 
people  are  nervous  when  they  overwork. 

DR.  M.    What  does  crunch  mean? 

DANE.     To  like  somebody. 

DR.  M.    What  does  juggler  mean? 

DANE.    A  man  that  sells  whiskey. 

DR.  M.  What  does  majesty  mean?  Have  you 
ever  heard  that  word? 

DANE.  I  have  heard  it  lots  of  times.  A  ser- 
vant will  say  to  his  master,  "His  Majesty." 

DR.  M.  What  does  brunette  mean,  do  you 
know? 

DANE.     No. 

DR.  M.    Do  you  know  what  snip  means? 

DANE.  It  means  a  horse  sometimes.  Driving 
after  a  cow  why  they  snip  at  them. 

DR.  M.  Do  you  know  any  of  these  other 
words  ? 

DANE.    I  know  that  one, — 49. 

DR.  M.    What  does  that  mean, — forfeit? 

DANE.  When  you  are  playing  a  game,  if  you 
laugh  you  have  to  pay  a  forfeit.  How  many  did 
I  say  out  of  fifty? 

DR.  M.  You  got  thirty-four  of  them  exactly 
right. 

DANE.    I  know  that  one, — number  57. 

DR.  M.    What  does  it  mean, — charter? 

DANE.  Charter  member  they  speak  of,  some- 
body that  pays  someone  so  they  don't  have  to 
work,  too  small  to  do  anything. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      269 

Da.  M.  I  am  going  to  tell  you  some  stories. 
These  stories  may  be  true  and  they  may  be  fool- 
ish. I  want  you  to  tell  me  which  they  are. 

"A  man  said:  I  know  a  road  from  my  house 
to  the  city  which  is  down  hill  all  the  way  to  the 
city  and  down  hill  all  the  way  back  home." 

DANE.    That  is  foolish;  that  couldn't  be. 

DR.  M.    Why  couldn't  it  be? 

DANE.  When  you  go  down  hill  all  the  way  to 
go  to  the  city,  that  might  be  all  right,  but  coming 
back  you  woiild  have  to  come  up,  you  couldn't 
come  down  unless  you  lived  in  two  houses. 

DR.  M.    What  about  this  one! 

"An  engineer  said  that  the  more  cars  he  had 
on  his  train  the  faster  he  could  go." 

DANE.  I  don't  know  but  what  that  is  true.  I 
don't  know.  I  know  on  a  double  runner  in  the 
winter  the  more  people  you  have  on  it  the  further 
it  will  go. 

DR.  M.  Under  certain  conditions  that  might 
be  so. 

DANE.    I  don't  think  he  could  go  faster. 

DR.  M.    Why  not? 

DANE.    Because  it  is  a  heavier  load. 

DR.  M.    How  about  starting  it! 

DANE.  I  think  he  could  start  about  as  easily. 
You  can  start  an  automobile  with  fifty  in  it  but 
you  couldn't  go  as  fast  with  so  many  in  it. 

DR.  M.    What  about  this  one: 

"The  police  found  the  body  of  a  young  girl 
yesterday  cut  into  eighteen  pieces.  They  believe 
she  killed  herself." 

DANE.    No,  she  couldn't. 

DR.  M.    Why  not? 


270  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

DANE.  She  couldn't  cut  herself  up  in  four  or 
five  pieces. 

DR.  M.    She  couldn't? 

DANE.  No.  She  would  cut  like  this  (illustrat- 
ing) and  if  she  cut  off  her  head  the  first  thing  she 
couldn't  cut  anything  else. 

DR.  M.    No! 

DANE.  She  couldn't  see  what  she  was  doing. 
She  wouldn't  have  any  brain  to  tell  her  what  to 
do. 

DR.  M.    Here  is  another  one : 

"There  was  a  railroad  accident  yesterday  but 
the  newspapers  said  it  wasn't  a  very  bad  one. 
There  were  only  forty-eight  people  killed. ' ' 

DANE.  It  was  a  bad  one;  the  newspapers  you 
cannot  always  believe  them. 

DR.  M.    What  about  this  one? 

"A  bicycle  rider,  being  thrown  from  his  bicycle 
in  an  accident,  struck  his  head  against  a  stone  and 
was  instantly  killed.  They  picked  him  up  and 
carried  him  to  the  hospital,  and  they  do  not  think 
he  will  get  well  again." 

DANE.    Of  course,  he  won't  if  he  was  dead. 

DR.  M.  Now  what  ought  you  to  say  if  someone 
asks  your  opinion  about  someone  you  don't  know 
very  well? 

DANE.     Say  "I  don't  know." 

DR.  M.  What  ought  you  to  do  before  begin- 
ning something  very  important? 

DANE.     Think  about  it. 

DR.  M.  Why  should  we  judge  a  person  more 
by  his  actions  than  by  his  words  ? 

DANE.  Because  his  word  you  cannot  tell.  You 
certainly  cannot  tell,  he  might  lie. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      271 

DR.  M.     Can  you  tell  me  what  pity  is? 

DANE.  When  anybody  hasn't  a  very  good 
father  or  mother  or  something,  or  when  they 
haven't  any  at  all,  you  pity  them. 

DR.  M.    What  do  you  mean  by  "pity*'  them? 

DANE.  You  take  pity  on  them  because  they 
haven't  anybody  to  take  care  of  them. 

DR.  M.  Do  you  know  what  is  meant  by  re- 
venge? 

DANE.  I  have  heard  that  word  lots  of  times.  I 
don't  really  know. 

DR.  M.    What  is  charity? 

DANE.     To  be  helpful. 

DR.  M.  Would  it  be  charity  if  you  were  help- 
ful to  Mr.  Miller  in  your  classes? 

DANE.     I  don't  know;  it  might. 

DR.  M.  What  about  envy?  Do  you  know  what 
that  means? 

DANE.  Somebody  that  had  a  good  time  and 
you  can't,  you  envy  him. 

DR.  M.    What  is  justice? 

DANE.  It  means  to  do  right,  to  be  just  in  every- 
thing you  do. 

DR.  M.    What  do  you  mean  by  being  "just"? 

DANE.    Doing  the  right  thing. 

DR.  M.  Now  will  you  tell  me  about  these  sen- 
tences. These  words  if  you  put  them  together  in 
the  right  order  will  make  a  sentence.  All  the 
words  are  there  that  you  need  but  they  are  mixed 
up.  Will  you  put  those  together. 

DANE.    A  dog  defends  his  master  bravely. 

DR.  M.  Be  very  careful  and  see  if  you  can  do 
this  one. 

DANE.    I  asked  my  teacher  to  correct  my  paper. 


272  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

DR.  M.    And  this  one. 

DANE.  We  started  for  the  country  at  an  early 
hour. 

DR.  M.  That  is  very  good.  Will  you  explain 
these  pictures  to  me? 

DANE.  A  little  girl  wanted  to  do  something  and 
her  mother  said  she  couldn't  and  she  is  crying 
because  she  couldn't. 

DR.  M.    Good.    And  this  one. 

DANE.  A  man  is  reading  the  paper,  something 
about  the  war,  I  should  think,  something  about  the 
Americans  capturing  a  lot  of  Germans, — when 
they  captured  the  seventeen  thousand. 

DR.  M.    It  may  have  been. 

DANE.  And  he  was  reading  the  paper  and  all 
of  his  friends  were  reading  the  paper  with  him 
and  they  are  all  laughing,  being  glad  the  Amer- 
icans had  captured  all  that  number. 

DR.  M.    And  this  one. 

DANE.  Probably  some  Indians  took  off  this 
lady  and  man  out  camping  in  the  woods  and  they 
don't  know  where  they  were  going.  They  prob- 
ably thought  they  would  tip  them  over  or  some- 
thing. 

DR.  M.    And  this  one. 

DANE.    A  man  with  his  wife. 

DR.  M.  Can  you  tell  me  how  wood  and  coal  are 
just  alike?  In  what  way  are  they  alike? 

DANE.  When  you  burn  them  they  both  make 
carbon. 

DR.  M.    They  both  burn  then? 

DANE.    Yes. 

DR.  M.  How  are  an  apple  and  a  peach  just 
alike? 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      273 

DANE.    They  give  juice. 

DR.  M.  How  are  these  three  things  alike,  in 
what  way?  A  snake,  a  cow  and  a  sparrow? 

DANE.  A  snake  and  a  cow  I  guess  have  horns ; 
I  don't  know  whether  a  sparrow  has. 

DR.  M.    Hardly,  does  it? 

DANE.     Because  they  both  have  tails. 

DR.  M.    Is  there  any  other  way  they  are  alike  ? 

DANE.    I  don't  know. 

DR.  M.  Can  you  tell  me  how  wool,  cotton  and 
leather  are  alike? 

DANE.    Because  they  are  all  worn. 

DR.  M.  How  are  rose,  potato  and  tree  all 
alike? 

DANE.    Because  they  grow? 

DR.  M.    Is  that  all  you  can  say  about  that? 

DANE.     They  grow  and  the  rose  is  pretty. 

DR.  M.  How  are  book,  teacher,  and  newspaper 
alike? 

DANE.  The  book  and  the  newspaper  are 
printed.  I  don't  know  whether  a  teacher  is. 

DR.  M.    I  don't  think  she  is,  do  you? 

DANE.    No. 

DR.  M.  How  are  knif  eblade,  penny  and  a  piece 
of  wire  alike? 

DANE.    All  made  of  the  same  stuff. 

DR.  M.    What  kind  of  stuff? 

DANE.     Copper. 

DR.  M.  I  am  going  to  tell  you  some  more  sto- 
ries, Dane.  These  stories  are  what  we  call  fables 
and  they  have  lessons  they  teach  us,  the  same  as 
Bible  stories  teach  us  when  we  read  them.  I  want 
you  to  listen  carefully  and  then  tell  me  the  lesson 
the  story  teaches. 


274  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

"A  man  was  driving  along  a  country  road  when 
the  wheels  suddenly  sank  in  a  deep  rut.  The  man 
did  nothing  but  look  at  the  wagon  and  call  loudly 
to  Hercules  to  come  and  help  him.  Hercules  came 
up,  looked  at  the  man  and  said:  'Put  your  shoul- 
der to  the  wheel,  my  man,  and  whip  up  your  oxen. ' 
Then  he  went  away  and  left  the  driver." 

What  would  that  teach  us? 

DANE.  Tell  him  what  to  do.  Tell  him  not  to 
be  so  lazy.  He  was  probably  lazy  and  didn't 
want  to  do  it. 

DR.  M.    And  this  one. 

"A  milkmaid  was  carrying  her  pail  of  milk  on 
her  head,  and  was  thinking  to  herself  thus :  '  The 
money  for  this  milk  will  buy  four  hens;  the  hens 
will  lay  at  least  a  hundred  eggs;  the  eggs  will 
produce  at  least  seventy-five  chicks ;  and  with  the 
money  which  the  chicks  will  bring  I  can  buy  a 
new  dress  to  wear  instead  of  the  ragged  one  I 
have  on.'  At  this  moment  she  looked  down  at 
herself,  trying  to  think  how  she  would  look  in  her 
new  dress;  but  as  she  did  so  the  pail  of  milk 
slipped  from  her  head  and  dashed  upon  the 
ground.  Thus  all  her  imaginary  schemes  perished 
in  a  moment." 

What  did  that  teach  us? 

DANE.  That  taught  us  not  to  think  about  what 
could  be  until  she  had  it  or  something  like  that. 
Not  to  be  thinking  about  it  till  she  got  the  money. 
There  is  a  song  you  play  on  the  piano  where  the 
maid  carried  some  milk  on  her  head  and  was  going 
to  sell  it  and  she  had  some  eggs  and  she  was  go- 
ing to  buy  a  new  dress  and  she  was  singing — 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      275 

" Won't  the  girls  be  jealous"  and  she  fell  and  the 
milk  fell  off  her  head. 

DR.  M.  The  same  thing  only  put  to  music, 
isn't  it! 

DANE.    Yes. 

DR.  M.    How  about  this? 

"A  crow,  having  stolen  a  bit  of  meat,  perched 
in  a  tree  and  held  it  in  her  beak.  A  fox,  seeing 
her,  wished  to  secure  the  meat  and  spoke  to  the 
crow  thus :  '  How  handsome  you  are !  And  I  have 
heard  that  the  beauty  of  your  voice  is  equal  to 
that  of  your  form  and  feathers.  Will  you  not 
sing  for  me,  so  that  I  may  judge  whether  this  is 
true?'  The  crow  was  so  pleased  that  she  opened 
her  mouth  to  sing  and  dropped  the  meat,  which 
the  fox  immediately  ate." 

What  does  that  teach  us? 

DANE.  It  would  teach  you  not  to  steal  meat 
again,  and  if  she  did  have  a  piece  not  to  sing  for 
him  so  she  could  have  it  for  herself. 

DR.  M.    What  about  this  one  ? 

"A  farmer  set  some  traps  to  catch  cranes  which 
had  been  eating  his  seed.  With  them  he  caught 
a  stork.  The  stork,  which  had  not  really  been 
stealing,  begged  the  farmer  to  spare  his  life,  say- 
ing that  he  was  a  bird  of  excellent  character,  that 
he  was  not  at  all  like  the  cranes,  and  that  the 
farmer  should  have  pity  on  him.  But  the  farmer 
said:  'I  have  caught  you  with  these  robbers,  the 
cranes,  and  you  have  got  to  die  with  them.' 

What  does  that  teach  us? 

DANE.  Probably  our  storks  did  do  something 
to  the  farmers  once  and  since  then  farmers  kill 
storks.  [Been  reading  " Just-So  Stories."] 


276  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

DR.  M.  Kipling  didn't  write  about  that  in 
those  stories.  If  he  had  he  could  have  made  a 
good  story  about  why  they  hurt  the  farmers. 

DANE.    Do  they  hurt  the  farmers? 

DR.  M.  I  don't  know.  We  don't  have  them 
around  here,  do  we? 

DANE.    I  don't  know. 

DR.  M.  You  could  ask  Miss  Garrett  about 
cranes,  maybe  she  can  tell  you  something  about 
them.  One  more  story. 

"A  miller  and  his  son  were  driving  their 
donkey  to  a  neighboring  town  to  sell  him.  They 
had  not  gone  far  when  a  child  saw  them  and  cried 
out:  'What  fools  those  fellows  are  to  be  trudging 
along  on  foot  when  one  of  them  might  be  riding. ' 
The  old  man,  hearing  this,  made  his  son  get  on 
the  donkey,  while  he  himself  walked.  Soon  they 
came  upon  some  men.  'Look,'  said  one  of  them, 
'see  that  lazy  boy  riding  while  his  old  father  has 
to  walk. '  On  hearing  this  the  miller  made  his  son 
get  off,  and  he  climbed  upon  the  donkey  himself. 
Farther  on  they  met  a  company  of  women,  who 
shouted  out:  'Why,  you  lazy  old  fellow,  to  ride 
along  so  comfortably  while  your  poor  boy  there 
can  hardly  keep  pace  by  the  side  of  you!'  And 
so  the  good-natured  miller  took  his  boy  up  behind 
him  and  both  of  them  rode.  As  they  came  to  the 
town  a  citizen  said  to  them,  'Why,  you  cruel  fel- 
lows! you  two  are  better  able  to  carry  the  poor 
little  donkey  than  he  is  to  carry  you.'  'Very 
well,'  said  the  miller,  'we  will  try.'  So  both  of 
them  jumped  on  to  the  ground,  got  some  ropes, 
tied  the  donkey's  legs  to  a  pole  and  tried  to  carry 
him.  But  as  they  crossed  the  bridge  the  donkey 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      277 

became  frightened,  kicked  loose  and  fell  into  the 
stream." 

What  would  that  teach  us? 

DANE.  Teach  us  not  to  listen  to  everything  that 
everybody  says,  but  to  do  just  what  you  think  is 
best.  Not  to  make  people  think  they  can  change 
your  mind. 

DR.  M.  That  has  a  lot  of  lessons  to  it.  I  want 
to  tell  you  some  more  stories.  These  stories  I 
wish  you  would  finish  for  me. 

A  man  who  was  walking  in  the  woods  near  a 
city  stopped  suddenly,  very  much  frightened,  and 
then  ran  to  the  nearest  policeman,  saying  that  he 
had  just  seen  hanging  from  the  limb  of  a  tree  a — 
what  do  you  think  it  was? 

DANE.     A  lion. 

DB.  M.  All  right.  An  Indian  who  had  come  to 
town  for  the  first  time  in  his  life  saw  a  white  man 
riding  along  the  street.  As  the  white  man  rode 
by  the  Indian  said — "The  white  man  is  lazy;  lie 
walks  sitting  down."  What  was  the  white  man 
riding  on  that  caused  the  Indian  to  say  "he  walks 
sitting  down"? 

DANE.    A  donkey  or  a  horse;  either  one. 

DB.  M.  Can  you  tell  about  the  hands  of  the 
clock?  Supposing  it  is  22  minutes  after  6  and  I 
changed  the  hands  and  put  the  minute  hand  where 
the  hour  hand  should  be  and  the  hour  hand  where 
the  minute  hand  should  be,  what  time  would  it 
read  then? 

DANE.    Twenty- two  minutes  past  six  you  said? 

DB.  M.    Yes. 

DANE.    That  would  be  half  past  four. 

DB.  M.    Suppose  it  was  ten  minutes  after  eight 


278  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

and  I  changed  the  hands  around,  what  time  would 
it  be? 

DANE.  Twenty  minutes  of  two.  No,  twenty 
minutes  of  three. 

DR.  M.  And  suppose  it  was  fourteen  minutes 
of  three,  what  time  would  it  be  if  I  changed  the 
hands  around? 

DANE.  It  would  be  a  quarter  of  three  or 
quarter  past  three. 

DR.  M.  It  was  almost  a  quarter  of  three  you 
see,  fourteen  minutes  of  three. 

DANE.  It  would  be  fourteen  minutes  past 
three. 

DR.  M.  Now  I  wonder  if  you  can  do  this  kind 
of  an  arithmetic  question.  I  do  not  know  whether 
you  have  had  anything  as  hard  as  this  or  not,  but 
I  want  to  know.  Can  you  tell  me  the  answer  to 
that  question  there? 

DANE.     Ten  pencils. 

DR.  M.  Can  you  tell  me  the  answer  to  that 
question? 

DANE.     Fifty  weeks. 

DR.  M.    That  is  exactly  right. 

DR.  M.  Can  you  tell  me  the  answer  to  this 
one? 

DANE.    Twenty-five  cents. 

DR.  M.    Can  you  tell  me  how  you  got  it  ? 

DANE.  Fifteen  cents  a  yard,  that  would  be  two 
yards  and  one  foot ;  there  are  three  feet  in  a  yard 
and  at  15  cents  take  two  yards,  that  would  be  30 
cents,  and  a  foot  is  one-third  of  a  yard,  that  would 
be  5  cents  a  foot;  that  would  be  35  cents. 

DR.  M.  That  is  exactly  right.  Here  is  another 
little  number  question  to  do.  I  have  a  box  and  in 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      279 

this  big  box  are  two  small  boxes.  Each  of  these 
small  boxes  has  a  tiny  box  in  it.  How  many  boxes 
have  I  altogether? 

DANE.    Five  boxes,  isn't  it? 

DR.  M.  Good.  Suppose  I  have  a  big  box  with 
two  small  boxes  in  it  and  two  tiny  ones  in  each 
of  the  small  ones. 

'DANE.    Nine. 

DR.  M.  Suppose  I  have  a  big  box  with  three 
small  boxes  in  it  and  three  tiny  ones  in  each  of 
the  three  small  ones? 

DANE.  That  would  be  seven,  seven  boxes  in 
all.  I  think  I  got  that  one  and  the  nine  mixed  up. 

DR.  M.  You  did  very  well  on  that  for  a  ten- 
year-old  boy  because  that  is  a  very  hard  question. 
Now  can  you  tell  me  the  difference  between  a 
president  and  a  king,  some  of  the  more  important 
differences  ? 

DANE.  The  king  makes  the  people  do  it  and 
the  president  he  just  tells  them  they  ought  to. 

DR.  M.    Any  other  difference? 

DANE.  Of  course  if  they  didn't  do  what  he  said 
he  would  make  them. 

DR.  M.    Do  you  know  any  other  difference? 

DANE.  The  people  don't  have  their  say  with 
the  king,  and  they  do  with  a  president.  They  can 
tell  the  president  what  they  think,  but  a  king,  he 
just  says  "Do  that  now"  and  that  is  all. 

DR.  M.    Any  other  important  difference? 

DANE.  I  think  the  president  is  the  better  way 
to  have  it.  Another  difference  is  the  president  is 
elected  by  everybody  and  a  king  is  just  elected  by 
some  of  the  head  men. 

DR.  M.    Is  that  the  way  the  king  gets  it? 


280  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

DANE.    I  think  perhaps  that  is  the  way. 

DR.  M.  Now  can  you  tell  me  the  difference 
between  laziness  and  idleness? 

DANE.  A  lazy  man  doesn't  do  much  but  he 
does  a  little,  I  guess;  an  idle  man  he  doesn't  do 
anything  but  just  stand  around  the  street  corners. 
A  lazy  man  will  take  in  wood  for  his  wife,  but  an 
idle  man  wouldn't. 

DR.  M.  Will  you  tell  me  the  difference  between 
poverty  and  misery? 

DANE.  Misery  is  when  people  are  ashamed  of 
themselves.  Poverty  is  when  people  cannot  help 
it  and  think  it  is  all  right  because  they  cannot 
have  anything  better. 

DR.  M.  Now  just  one  more  of  these  questions 
then  we  are  done  with  this  very  hardest  set  of 
all.  Suppose  I  have  a  piece  of  paper  like  that 
and  fold  it  once  and  cut  a  hole  in  it,  how  many 
holes  would  you  see  in  the  paper? 

DANE.    Just  one. 

DR.  M.  If  I  take  another  paper  and  fold  it 
once  and  then  fold  it  a  second  time,  how  many 
holes  would  there  be  in  the  paper? 

DANE.     Two  I  think. 

DR.  M.  That  is  right.  Now  suppose  I  take 
another  paper  and  fold  it  once  and  a  second  time, 
then  a  third  time,  how  many  holes  do  you  think 
there  would  be  in  there? 

DANE.     Three  or  six ;  oh,  four. 

DR.  M.  Suppose  I  take  another  one  and  fold 
it  once;  I  would  get  one  hole,  then  twice  would 
give  me  two,  three  times  would  give  me  four,  and 
four  times  would  give  me — how  many? 

DANE.     Eight. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      281 

DR.  M.    Let  us  see.    That  is  right. 

DANE.    Eight. 

DR.  M.  Do  you  know  how  many  holes  you 
would  get  if  I  folded  it  still  another  time? 

DANE.     Sixteen. 

DR.  M.  What  is  the  rule,  do  you  know?  What 
is  the  general  rule? 

DANE.    I  don't  know. 

DR.  M.  Each  time  I  fold  it  you  watch;  that 
would  be  eight ;  the  next  time  you  said  that  would 
make  sixteen.  Let  us  see  to  be  sure  of  it.  Yes. 
If  we  folded  that  again  how  many  would  it  give 
you? 

DANE.     Thirty-two. 

DR.  M.    Now  how  does  it  go  each  time  then? 

DANE.    Doubles. 

DR.  M.  Yes,  it  is  hard  to  fold  it  so  many  times, 
but  if  we  folded  every  one  of  those  squares  in 
half  again  we  would  get  thirty-two. 

DANE.     Yes. 

DR.  M.  You  can  take  a  big  newspaper  and 
work  it  out  until  it  gets  up  to  100  if  you  want  to. 

DANE.    I  don't  believe  I  would. 

Examination  in  Academic  Ability 

DR.  M.  Just  a  few  questions  about  what  you 
are  doing  in  school,  then  we  want  to  get  to  the 
puzzles.  Will  you  read  that  last  one? 

(Reads  poetry  from  III  Reader  selections  very 
well.) 

DR.  M.    Now  will  you  read  this  one? 

(Reads  prose  from  IV  Reader  and  then  poetry, 
both  quite  well.} 


282  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

DR.  M.  That  is  enough,  that  is  very  good. 
How  are  you  in  spelling  in  school?  Do  you  like 
spelling? 

DANE.    Pretty  well. 

DB.  M.    Can  you  spell  catch? 

DANE.     C-a-t-c-h. 

DB.  M.     Clothing. 

DANE.     C-1-o-t-h-i-n-g. 

DB.  M.    Private. 

DANE.    P-r-i-v-a-t-«. 

DB.  M.    Express. 

DANE.    E-x-p-r-e-s-s. 

DB.  M.    Eecover. 

DANE.    R-e-c-o-v-e-r. 

DB.  M.    Because. 

DANE.    B-e-c-a-u-s-e. 

DB.  M.    Contract. 

DANE.    C-o-n-t-r-a-c-t. 

DB.  M.    Event. 

DANE.    E-v-e-n-t. 

DB.  M.    Picture. 

DANE.    P-i-c-t-u-r-e. 

DB.  M.    January. 

DANE.    J-a-n-a-r-y.    That  is  wrong. 

DB.  M.    How  would  you  spell  it? 

DANE.    J-a-n-u-a-r-y. 

DB.  M.  Good,  I  thought  you  would  get  that 
without  my  saying  anything. 

DB.  M.    Spend. 

DANE.     S-p-e-n-d. 

DB.  M.    Awful. 

DANE,    A-w-f-u-1. 

DB.  M.    Sometimes. 

DANE.    S-u-m — no,  s-o-m-e-t-i-m-e-s. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      283 

DR.  M.    Lose. 

DANE.    L-o-o-s-e. 

DR.  M.    Between. 

DANE.    B-e-t-w-e-e-n. 

DR.  M.    Combination. 

DANE.    C-o-m-b-i-n-a-t-i-o-n. 

DR.  M.    Argument. 

DANE.    A-r-g-u-m-a-n-t. 

DR.  M.    Motion. 

DANE.  M-o-t^-i-o-n.  I  spelled  argument 
wrong.  It  should  be  "ment." 

DR.  M.  That  is  very  good ;  those  are  8th  grade 
words.  I  didn't  expect  you  to  be  able  to  spell 
them  all.  I  would  like  to  have  you  write  for  me 
your  name  and  address  as  you  would  expect  to 
find  it  on  an  envelope  sent  to  you? 

DANE.  Sometimes  they  put  up  here  who  it  is 
from. 

DR.  M.  You  needn't  do  that,  just  put  on  Mr. 
or  Master  whatever  you  think  is  right  and  your 
whole  address. 

DANE.    Is  the  abbreviation  for  street  all  right? 

DR.  M.  Yes.  That  is  exactly  right.  You  can 
write  abbreviations,  can't  you?  Write  the  abbre- 
viation for  Doctor  there,  will  you? 

(Writes  it  correctly,  also  those  for  mister,  Sat- 
urday, inch,  pint  and  rural  free  delivery.) 

DR.  M.    Do  you  know  collect  on  delivery? 

DANE.    C.O.D.    Call  on  dad. 

DR.  M.  Now  can  you  tell  me  some  of  the  ways 
in  which  we  use  capital  letters? 

DANE.  For  anybody's  name,  first  or  last,  cities, 
some  streets,  not  all  of  them.  High  Street,  you 
wouldn't  write  high  with  a  capital  all  the  time. 


284  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

DR.  M.  You  wouldn't  always  write  high  with 
a  capital  but  you  would  always  write  it  with  a 
capital  if  it  was  the  name  of  the  street. 

DANE.    Yes. 

DR.  M.  Do  you  know  anything  about  nouns 
and  verbs!  Do  you  know  what  a  noun  is? 

DANE.    Yes. 

DR.  M.    What  is  it? 

DANE.     The  name  of  something. 

DR.  M.    What  is  a  verb? 

DANE.    A  color. 

DR.  M.  No,  that  is  an  adjective.  Do  you  have 
that  in  school? 

DANE.    We  have  had  it  since  February  1st. 

DR.  M.  Probably  it  is  just  new  work.  Take 
this  sentence,  "The  man  rode  into  the  large  city 
slowly."  Can  you  pick  out  the  nouns  for  me  in 
that. 

DANE.    Man,  city ;  that  is  all,  I  think. 

DR.  M.  That  is  exactly  right.  Now  I  am  go- 
ing to  tell  you  what  a  verb  is.  A  verb  is  a  word 
that  tells  what  is  being  done  or  was  done;  it  is 
a  word  that  gives  the  action.  Can  you  find  any 
verbs  in  there  for  me? 

DANE.     Slowly. 

DR.  M.  No,  what  is  it  that  is  slowly?  Can  you 
slowly  anything? 

DANE.    Rode. 

DR.  M.    Right. 

DR.  M.    What  have  you  had  in  Geography? 

DANE.  In  Geography  we  have  had  about  moun- 
tains. 

DR.  M.  Have  you  studied  anything  about  the 
different  countries? 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      285 

DANE.    Only  South  America. 

DR.  M.  Have  you  had  about  the  United 
States! 

DANE.    South  America  and  the  United  States. 

DR.  M.    Can  you  tell  me  what  a  mountain  is? 

DANE.  A  mountain  is  something  that  is  a  great 
deal  higher  than  a  hill. 

DR.  M.    What  is  it,  a  building? 

DANE.    No,  a  slant;  most  of  them  are  rocky. 

DR.  M.    What  is  a  river! 

DANE.  Something  larger  than  a  brook ;  a  brook 
is  a  little  stream  of  water  and  a  river  is  a  good 
large  stream  of  water. 

DR.  M.    What  is  an  island? 

DANE.  Something  out  in  the  middle  of  the 
ocean,  out  in  the  middle  of  a  pond  or  a  lake. 

DR.  M.    What  kind  of  a  something  is  it? 

DANE.    It  is  a  body  of  land. 

DR.  M.    What  is  an  ocean? 

DANE.    A  body  of  water. 

DR.  M.  Do  you  know  what  we  mean  by  cli- 
mate? 

DANE.  Means  the  weather,  something  about 
the  weather.  It  means  whether  it  is  hot  or  cold 
day;  cold  climate  and  cold  day. 

DR.  M.  Do  you  know  what  causes  day  and 
night? 

DANE.  The  sun  goes  over  the  other  side  of  the 
mountains. 

DR.  M.  Do  you  know  what  we  mean  by  the 
capital  of  the  country? 

DANE.  Where  the  president  lives.  The  Presi- 
dent or  King  or  Kaiser. 

DR.  M.    What  are  exports? 


286  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

DANE.    They  are  ships,  aren't  they? 

DR.  M.    What  are  industries? 

DANE.    Work ;  different  kinds  of  work. 

DB.  M.    What  are  products! 

DANE.  Things  that  are  raised,  vegetables,  flow- 
ers, etc. 

DB.  M.  Now  a  few  things  about  North  Amer- 
ica. Can  you  tell  me  the  different  countries  in 
North  America? 

DANE.  There  is  Mexico  and  the  United  States 
and  the  Dominion  of  Canada. 

DB.  M.  Which  one  of  those  belong  to  the 
United  States,  do  you  know?  Which  one  of  them 
do  we  own? 

DANE.    Canada. 

DB.  M.  No,  we  own  Alaska,  away  up  in  the 
corner.  Can  you  tell  me  some  of  the  states  in 
the  United  States?  Do  you  know  what  part  of 
the  United  States  you  live  in? 

DANE.    New  England. 

DB.  M.  And  New  England  is  a  group  of  states, 
isn't  it? 

DANE.    Yes. 

DB.  M.  Can  you  name  the  New  England  states 
for  me? 

DANE.  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  Mas- 
sachusetts, Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut. 

DB.  M.  Can  you  tell  me  the  capital  of  New 
Hampshire? 

DANE.     Concord. 

DB.  M.    The  capital  of  Massachusetts? 

DANE.    Boston. 

DB.  M.    And  Vermont? 

DANE.    Montpelier. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      287 

DR.  M.    And  Rhode  Island? 

DANE.    Providence. 

DR.  M.  Can  you  tell  me  the  names  of  a  couple 
of  the  states  that  would  be  away  out  in  the  west- 
ern part  of  the  United  States? 

DANE.  Ohio;  Missouri. 

DR.  M.  Can  you  name  some  of  them  further 
west  than  that,  some  on  the  Pacific  Coat! 

DANE.    California  and  Oregon. 

DR.  M.  Can  you  name  one  on  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  ! 

DANE.    Texas. 

DR.  M.  Good.  Can  you  name  one  special  one, 
it  can  be  only  one,  that  extends  down  in  a  point 
between  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  Atlantic 
Ocean? 

DR.  M.  You  had  better  look  that  up.  That  is 
most  too  hard  a  question  for  you,  I  admit. 

DANE.     I  don't  know  what  you  mean. 

DR.  M.  One  state  that  goes  away  down  in  a 
point  like  that,  beween  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the 
Atlantic  Ocean. 

DANE.    New  Mexico  ? 

DR.  M.  No,  that  is  on  the  other  side.  Can  you 
tell  me  some  of  the  big  rivers  in  the  United 
States! 

DANE.  The  Mississippi  and  Missouri  and  Con- 
necticut. 

DR.  M.  Can  you  name  some  mountains  that 
are  in  the  western  part  of  the  United  States! 

DANE.    Sierra  Nevada. 

DR.  M.  They  are  a  part  of  what  big  group  of 
mountains  ! 

DANE.    Appalachian. 


288  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

DR.  M.  Now  what  do  you  know  about  South 
America?  Have  you  learned  the  countries  in 
South  America  and  their  capitals? 

DANE.    Yes,  I  can  tell  most  of  them. 

DB.  M.  Name  one  of  the  countries  for  me  in 
South  America  and  its  capital. 

DANE.    Brazil,  Eio  de  Janeiro. 

DB.  M.    Can  you  name  another  one? 

DANE.    Chili,  Lima. 

DB.  M.    Do  you  know  anything  about  Chili? 

DANE.     They  raise  wheat  and  a  lot  of  cattle. 

DB.  M.    What  do  you  know  about  Brazil? 

DANE.  It  is  quite  a  commercial  country,  isn't 
it? 

DB.  M. v  Yes.  Now  I  want  you  to  do  a  little 
bit  of  Arithmetic  for  me,  then  we  are  all  done 
with  questions.  What  are  you  doing  in  Arith- 
metic in  school  now? 

DANE.    We  have  been  doing  decimals. 

DB.  M.    Have  you  had  fractions  at  all? 

DANE.  Yes.  In  the  4th  grade  we  had  long  di- 
vision; we  have  been  doing  long  division  in  deci- 
mals now. 

DB.  M.  Now  there  are  some  easy  ones  to  begin 
with.  Here  are  one  in  addition,  one  in  subtraction 
and  one  in  multiplication.  You  just  run  through 
that.  They  are  not  decimals  you  see. 

(Does  correctly)  3871  76493  173286 

3429  -28765  X23 
-+6570  


(Places  decimals  correctly  in  product  in  the 
multiplication  problem  when  decimal  points  are 
added.) 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      289 

DR.  M.  Let  me  see  if  you  can  do  this  long  di- 
vision. 

(Does  with  process  correct  but  errors  in  multi- 
plying,— 764382-^23. ) 

DB.  M.    Now  you  say  you  have  had  fractions? 

DANE.    Yes. 

DB.  M.  Will  you  add  this?  2j-+3£.  (Cor- 
rectly finished.) 

DB.  M.  Can  you  multiply  fractions?  See  if 
you  can  do  this  one.  2^x2|.  (Cannot  do.) 

Performance  Tests 

DB.  M.  Now  some  puzzles.  Take  that  block 
and  touch  the  same  ones  I  touch  with  my  block. 

(Dane  tries.) 

DB.  M.    No,  that  isn't  quite  right. 

(Tries  again.) 

DB.  M.    Good.    Now  this  one. 

(Again.) 

DB.  M.    Good,  now  this  one. 

(Again.) 

DB.  M.    Careful,  this  way. 

(Again.) 

DB.  M.    Good.    Now  one  more. 

(Again.) 

DB.  M.  That  is  very  good.  Now  let  us  take 
this  other  board.  This  block  will  go  only  in  the 
one  hole.  It  won't  go  in  there,  or  there,  or  there, 
it  is  a  little  too  large.  Now  where  does  it  go? 

DANE.    In  here. 

DB.  M.    Now  take  it  again. 

(Child  takes  block  and  board  is  turned,  then  he 
replaces  it,  first  following  single,  then  double,  then 
triple  moves, — Dane  does  all  correctly.) 


290  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

DANE.    You  can  tell  because  it  is  larger. 

DR.  M.  Now  will  you  try  to  fit  all  of  these 
blocks  into  this  space  without  having  any  blocks 
left  and  no  hole  left?  [Healy  A.] 

DK.  M.  Good.  Now  let  us  see  if  you  can  do 
it  more  quickly  than  that. 

(Child  tries.) 

DR.  M.  That  was  six  seconds  instead  of  123 
seconds.  That  is  very  good. 

DANE.     I  didn't  do  it  the  same  way  either. 

DR.  M.  Here  is  one  a  little  bit  harder  [Healy 
B].  See  if  you  can  fit  all  these  blocks  into  that 
board  and  have  no  holes  left.  They  fit  a  little 
bit  tight  on  account  of  the  dampness  up  here,  that 
is  all. 

DR.  M.  That  didn't  take  you  as  long  as  that 
other  one. 

DANE.     How  long? 

DR.  M.  118  seconds.  Now  let  us  see  if  you 
can  do  it  again. 

DR.  M.     Good. 

DANE.    How  long? 

DR.  M.  36  seconds,  which  is  about  as  quickly 
as  you  can  do  it  and  put  all  those  pieces  in. 

DR.  M.  Here  is  a  big  board  [Seguin  Form 
Board]  which  isn't  very  hard  to  do.  The  question 
is  to  see  how  fast  you  can  do  it.  Stand  up  around 
here.  You  have  to  stand  for  this  board  and  you 
may  use  only  one  hand  to  do  it  and  you  may  have 
three  tries. 

DANE.     Can  I  use  either  hand? 

DR.  M.  Yes,  but  your  right  one  would  be  bet- 
ter you  see,  for  you  are  right-handed.  Hurry  up. 

DR.  M.    Good.     That  was  21.6  seconds.    Let 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      291 

us  see  if  you  can  get  some  of  that  time  off  of 
there.  Do  you  think  you  can? 

DANE.     Probably. 

DR.  M.    I  think  you  can.    All  right,  go  ahead. 

DR.  M.  That  was  exactly  19  seconds.  Now 
once  more. 

DANE.    Was  it  216  the  last  time? 

DR.  M.  No,  21.6  quite  a  difference  from  216, 
isn't  it? 

DANE.    Yes. 

DR.  M.    Now  try  again. 

DR.  M.  18.2  seconds  which  I  guess  is  about  the 
best  of  records  for  a  ten-year-old  boy. 

Anthropometric  Measurements 

DR.  M.  Now  just  a  couple  of  measurements  I 
want  to  take.  I  want  to  see  how  tall  you  are. 
Will  you  stand  up  against  there?  We  have  just 
five  minutes  before  Morning  Exercises,  so  it  is  a 
question  of  hurry,  isn't  it?  (Measures  height.) 
4  feet  6%  in. 

Now  if  you  will  sit  down  here,  I  want  to  see 
how  tall  you  are  sitting.  2  feet  S1/^  in. 

Now  get  on  the  scales  please.    6Sy2  pounds. 

DANE.  That  is  two  pounds  less  than  I  weighed 
the  other  time.  I  might  have  had  on  two  pounds 
of  heavier  clothing. 

DR.  M.  Perhaps  you  had  on  your  sweater. 
Now  this  is  something  you  have  probably  never 
done  before.  I  want  to  measure  and  see  how  big 
your  head  is.  There,  21^  in.  exactly,  which  is 
very  good. 

DANE.    About  a  6%  hat,  isn't  it? 


292  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

DB.  M.  I  don't  know  the  comparison  with  the 
sizes  of  hats  at  all;  I  imagine  you  would  know 
more  about  that  than  I  do.  Here  are  some  things 
to  see  how  strong  you  are.  This  one  is  to  see 
how  much  grip  you  have,  as  we  call  it,  or  how 
much  strength  you  have  in  your  hand.  I  have 
more  than  I  thought.  I  did  50  yesterday  and  60 
this  morning.  There,  you  did  25. 

That  is  very  good  for  you.  Let  us  try  with  this 
hand.  20. 

Now  I  want  you  to  do  each  one  again  and  see 
if  you  can  make  a  better  record. 

Just  the  same,  20.  Now  this  hand,  hard  and 
let  go.  You  didn't  do  as  much  as  you  did  before. 
You  used  too  much  strength.  You  only  did  20 
that  time  instead  of  25.  Now  let  us  see  how  much 
air  you  have  in  your  lungs.  We  blow  in  this  tube. 
If  you  take  a  deep  breath  and  blow  in  here  it  will 
make  a  record  there.  We  use  a  different  one  of 
the  mouthpieces  for  each  person  so  you  can  put 
this  in  your  mouth  and  blow  into  it  like  a  whistle. 

That  is  not  so  very  good,  75  cubic  inches. 
(Tries  again.) 

Good.  You  went  from  75  to  105  on  one  prac- 
tice. Try  again.  Take  time  and  breathe  deep 
and  then  blow  immediately.  115. 

Do  you  want  to  try  it  again? 

DANE.    I  would  just  as  soon. 

DB.  M.  See  if  you  can  make  a  better  record. 
(Tries  again.) 

120,— 75,  105,  115,  120.  That  is  very  good.  I 
only  take  the  best  record. 

DANE.    What  did  you  get? 

DB.  M,    Mine  is  210.    Your  lung  capacity  and 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      293 

your  grip  increase  as  you  get  older  and  taller. 
(Takes  dynamometer  again.) 

27.    You  used  both  hands. 

See  if  you  can  do  better  now,  20 ;  you  only  get 
20  when  you  do  not  use  your  other  hand.  Try 
again.  18. 

You  are  getting  more  tired.  Let  us  try  one 
other  thing.  Here  are  a  boy  and  girl  playing 
with  this  racket  and  this  small  ball.  I  want  you 
to  stand  by  the  door  and  see  how  far  away  you 
can  see  that  little  dot  which  is  supposed  to  be  a 
ball.  [Eye  Test.] 

DANE.  I  see  a  boy,  a  girl,  a  boy,  it  shows 
plainer  than  it  does  right  near. 

DR.  M.  You  have  done  very,  very  well  this 
morning.  Thank  you  very  much  for  coming  up, 
Dane.  Now  it  is  time  for  you  to  go  to  Morning 
Exercises. 

Psychological  Findings  on  Dane 

Careful  scoring  and  interpretation  of  this 
record  gives  us  the  following  facts  concerning 
Dane: 

He  is  ten  years  and  seven  months  old  and  all 
that  he  does  must  be  considered  with  regard  for 
this  actual  age. 

On  the  general  information  and  orientation 
questions  he  does  exceedingly  well.  He  is  well 
oriented  towards  his  environment,  his  information 
being  accurate  even  in  details.  He  has  a  pretty 
good  idea  of  current  events,  his  practical  judg- 
ment is  fairly  good,  he  has  good  ideas  of  the  value 
of  money  and  knows  his  own  likes  and  dislikes. 


294  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

By  the  Stanford  Binet,  he  scores  a  mental  age 
of  eleven  years  five  months.  This  gives  him  an 
intelligence  quotient  (mental  age  divided  by 
actual  age)  of  1.07.  He  does  everything  a  ten- 
year-old  child  might  be  expected  to  do  and  also 
some  of  the  tests  at  the  twelve  and  fourteen-year 
levels.  He  has  a  good  imagination  and  uses  it 
well  in  the  interpretation  of  concrete  situations, 
and  also  in  interpreting  theoretical  situations. 
His  constructive  association  is  good.  In  arith- 
metical reasoning  he  is  far  above  many  children 
of  his  age.  In  some  forms  of  rote  memory  he  has 
great  ability.  He  is  weakest  in  his  formal  knowl- 
edge of  language  and  in  his  attempts  to  general- 
ize situations. 

Dane  will  enter  the  sixth  grade  in  the  Peter- 
borough Public  School  this  next  fall.  He  is  fully 
up  to  the  level  of  the  other  children  entering  that 
grade.  He  reads  well  in  ordinary  selections  of 
both  prose  and  poetry.  He  does  fully  seventh 
grade  spelling  according  to  the  Ayres  Standard- 
ization. He  has  a  knowledge  of  the  ordinary 
written  forms  of  our  Language.  His  knowledge 
of  geographical  concepts  and  of  political  divisions 
is  fairly  good.  He  can  add,  subtract,  multiply 
and  do  long  division,  although  he  makes  some 
errors,  can  add  fractions  and  mixed  numbers,  but 
cannot  divide  or  multiply  them.  His  writing  is 
legible  and  regular. 

In  the  performance  tests  he  does  quite  well. 
His  best  time  (18.2")  on  the  Seguin  Form  Board 
shows  good  coordination  for  a  ten  year  old  and 
he  makes  but  one  form  error  in  completing  the 
task.  He  adapts  well  but  is  not  as  good  in  imita- 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      295 


-tee 


-ee 


50 


296  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

tive  work.  He  uses  a  method  of  trial  and  error 
in  doing  the  other  boards — a  typical  ten-year- 
level  performance — but  finally  completes  the  tasks 
and  when  given  second  trials  shows  he  has  learned 
by  experience  and  does  the  same  tasks  much  more 
rapidly. 

According  to  the  anthropometric  measure- 
ments, Dane  is  about  average  height  for  his  age, 
short  in  sitting  height,  of  average  weight  for  his 
height,  poor  in  grip  with  both  right  and  left 
hands,  but  good  in  lung  capacity.  This  compari- 
son with  the  measurements  on  other  ten-year-old 
boys  may  be  seen  more  clearly  in  the  accompany- 
ing curves. 

a  indicates  Dane's  average  physical  develop- 
ment as  indicated  by  the  three  measurements: 
height,  sitting  and  standing,  and  weight,  b  indi- 
cates his  average  ability  to  use  his  body  as  in- 
dicated by  the  measurement  of  right  and  left 
grips  and  lung  capacity.  These  three  measure- 
ments do  not  directly  ascertain  the  child's  physi- 
cal capacity  to  grip  and  blow,  but,  instead,  his 
mental  ability  to  direct  and  use  his  body  in  scor- 
ing on  the  instruments  used  to  make  these  meas- 
urements. In  most  normal  children  the  average 
b  is  equal  or  higher  than  a.  With  Dane  it  is 
rather  low. 

It  might  be  noted  here  that  the  children  were 
all  told  their  weak  points  on  the  measurements 
and  were  re-measured  at  the  end  of  the  summer, 
not  having  practised  on  the  instruments  in  the 
meantime.  Dane's  second  curve  was  as  follows. 
His  improvement  will  be  readily  noticed : 


Char 

t 

I 

C 

;c 

IT 

P 

ai 

ris 

n 

0 

f 

ra 

ti 

n| 

? 

in 

n 

iun 

-- 

C 

hi 

"0 

n 

•1 

3f2 

K 

'a 

RS 

e 

s 

in 

"V 

e 

11 

ar 

ta 

1 

,T 

•*( 



A 

rt 

i] 

H! 

_ 

f- 

n1 

•^ 

HI 

rp 

13 

9 

^11 

o  n 

•. 

•. 

; 

-e-  H* 

\ 

.•• 

ft 

•. 

i 

•--•: 

. 

... 

>  ' 

« 

• 

•, 

/ 

\ 

C     o 

.. 

-: 

1 

* 

\ 

l/     • 

7 

\ 

:/• 

S 

\> 

55 

/ 

S 

• 

f 

x 

; 

• 

,• 

•. 

/: 

' 

: 

\ 

// 

\ 

n 

1 

/ 

• 

j 

/ 

•. 

* 

•/ 

: 

-. 

;/ 

-•. 

, 

: 

'. 

•'/ 

x1 

• 

• 

f 

X 

I 

\ 

•. 

y 

/ 

\ 

;« 

.< 

/ 

•• 

/ 

~ 

3 

-. 

/, 

1 

'A 

••' 

j 

/ 

" 

' 

\ 

(i 

/ 

V 

/ 

/ 

• 

• 

c 

hi 

lr 

er 

t 

T 

n 

n 

^ 

c 

ii 

i  Ji 

br 


ef  fcrid  iiit 


tests 


v 


fron 


lde«t 


[To  face  page  296.] 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      297 


b  ) 

£           2 

a 

uE           *-^ 

-    ,—  •        o 

a        i       5>-- 

*              4              * 

S                -*i               -     iS  - 

c              S             *• 

5         ^         ^ 

i-             O 

«       i  1*13 

^                 id,                o 

si  IE  HIS 

fe                 e                ! 

95  - 

90  - 

] 

•  HF» 

r 

0/\ 

\J\f 

t"- 

75 

t 

70 

j 

65  - 

r-t 

3  EL  I 

L 

.Z 

.-• 

—1x5 

••  '-        )  !  - 

f->^ 

x^_    ^i 

60  •• 

V                                      j  V'  ' 

^*  v,^ 

„  45 

4           -^:] 

""*'  V  J 

::  i?--  i 

-1    .-    f- 

—35  _ 

i^ 

-30  - 

r 

—25    - 

:  i 

nn 

-4.L-  jL_ 

ir  [" 

-•  15  -J 

10 

V- 

* 

5 

n 

P.  at  A  9 

298  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

There  are  several  other  things  to  be  noted 
which  do  not  show  in  the  actual  record.  Dane 
worked  well,  cooperating  throughout  and  showing 
little  fatigue.  He  was  nervous  and  fidgety,  but 
was  not  easily  distracted  from  the  task  in  hand. 
His  rate  of  reaction  was  absolutely  normal  and 
he  volunteered  information  and  related  his  own 
experiences  to  the  task  in  hand  in  a  very  normal 
fashion. 

Classification:  Normal,  quite  bright,  quick, 
rather  tense,  and  somewhat  nervous.  Should  not 
be  pushed,  educationally. 

An  examination  similar  to  the  above  was  made 
on  each  child.  It  varied  only  in  so  far  as  one 
child  naturally  varied  from  another,  and  it,  of 
course,  comprised  easier  questions  for  the 
younger,  harder  ones  for  the  older  children. 
Each  case  was  similarly  written  up  in  a  non- 
technical fashion.  This  write-up  was  primarily 
to  render  available  to  the  teachers,  or  to  any 
others  interested  in  the  individual  children,  a 
concise,  yet  easily  readable  report  of  what  the 
laboratory  thought  of  each  child. 

Of  those  who  are  retarded,  there  are  none  suf- 
ficiently below  normal  to  be  as  yet  a  real  problem 
because  of  inferiority.  With  several,  mental 
slowness  is  a  part  of  an  early  adolescence  which 
has  used  all  of  the  child's  energy  in  body  growth, 
the  others  are  too  young  for  us  to  make  now  any 
final  statement  of  what  is  going  to  happen  to 
them.  Re-examination  after  another  year  will 
render  possible  far  more  accurate  prognoses. 

It  is, interesting  to  note  that  there  are  present 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      299 

in  the  school  nine  children  with  mentalities  at 
least  twenty  per  cent  above  the  average  for  their 
ages.  Usually  examiners  expect  to  find  only 
about  three  out  of  one  hundred  children  who  are 
that  much  above  average  ability.  We  have  in  this 
school  nine  out  of  thirty-five.  We  might  also  note 
that  all  four  of  the  children  in  the  school  who  are 
city  children  are  to  be  found  in  this  group  of  nine. 
If  we  compare  the  mental  rating  of  the  individ- 
ual children  by  this  intensive  method  and  by  the 
brief  survey  method,  the  superiority  of  the  in- 
tensive method  immediately  becomes  evident. 
Chart  II  gives  the  comparison  graphically.  The 
children  are  arranged  in  order  from  youngest  to 
oldest.  The  black  (  )  line  indicates  the  men- 
tality according  to  the  survey  test.  If  each  child 
were  just  average  normal  in  mentality  for  his  age, 

this  black  line  would  follow  closely  the  line  ( ) 

which  indicates  chronological  age.  Instead  it 
shows  very  definitely  that  some  children  are  men- 
tally far  above  their  actual  age,  others  are  below. 
When  we  consider  the  findings  by  the  intensive 
examination  (shown  by  the  dotted  line)  we  see 
that  it  does  not  exactly  follow  the  survey  rating. 
In  some  cases  the  children  rate  almost  the  same 
by  the  two  scales.  In  other  instances  a  child  tests 
as  much  as  two  or  two-and-a-half  years  higher 
by  the  Stanford  than  by  the  survey.  Other  chil- 
dren test  less  on  the  Stanford.  The  children  with 
psychopathic  tendencies  almost  always  test  higher 
on  the  survey  than  on  the  Stanford.  There  does 
not  seein  to  be  any  more  marked  agreement  be- 
tween the  two  scales  for  the  ages  under  nine, 
where  Doll  claims  the  brief  scale  is  fully  stand- 


300  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

ardizcd  for  the  higher  ages.  Discrepancies  are 
practically  the  same  throughout. 

In  general,  the  writer  would  not  care  to  make 
even  tentative  diagnoses  on  the  basis  of  the  brief 
scale.  Its  use  is  too  limited  to  make  it  very  prac- 
tical, and  it  is  somewhat  severe  in  grading  unless 
one  uses  it  in  such  a  wide-range  fashion  that  the 
time  might  just  as  well  be  devoted  to  use  of  the 
complete  scale.  This  is  especially  true  in  using 
the  abbreviated  Stanford. 

The  correlation  of  the  two  scales  is,  as  might 
be  expected,  fairly  high,  r  equals  +0.843.  The 
fallacy  of  using  this  correlation  as  an  accurate 
index  of  the  value  of  the  brief  scale  lies  in  the 
fact  that  the  correlation  coefficient  indicates  the 
general  relation  of  the  two  scales  while  there  is 
always  a  probability  in  applying  the  scale  that 
the  very  child  under  consideration  is  the  one 
whose  two  ratings  will  widely  disagree. 

The  intensive  examination,  despite  the  extra 
time  it  takes,  is  the  only  one  which  is  actually  fair 
to  the  child. 

3.    COOPERATION  WITH  THE  HOMES. 

Almost  any  work  may  be  done  with  children 
and  be  entirely  valueless  unless  the  findings  be 
passed  on  to  those  who  have  to  work  and  live 
with  them.  Of  what  importance  is  it  to  find  that 
a  child  has  only  Vio  of  natural  vision  if  the  in- 
formation be  carefully  hidden  in  a  laboratory  file  ? 
The  fact  is  simply  the  first  step.  The  important 
thing  is  to  have  it  used  to  better  the  child's  con- 
dition or  way  of  living.  Of  course  any  school  can 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY   301 

use  in  its  own  daily  working  practically  all  that 
we  learn  about  any  of  the  children  in  the  labora- 
tory. But  that  use  shields  or  helps  or  relieves 
the  child  only  a  couple  of  hours  a  day.  To  be 
fully  used,  the  same  information  must  be  passed 
on  to  parents  and  guardians. 

This  we  have  tried  to  do  just  as  much  as  pos- 
sible. Before  the  school  began,  most  of  the  par- 
ents had  given  us  their  opinion  of  their  own  chil- 
dren. To  a  certain  extent  what  we  have  found 
has  agreed,  but  where  it  has  not  we  have  tried  to 
give  our  findings  on  the  children  so  that  the  home 
as  well  as  the  school  might  see  both  pictures  of 
the  child,  both  sides  of  his  being  and  mind  and 
character.  This  has  been  done  by  talks  with  the 
parents  who  have  visited  the  school  and  by  visits 
to  the  homes  of  as  many  of  the  others  as  possible. 
Another  year  this  would  be  easier.  Getting  ac- 
quainted with  the  school,  the  children  and  the 
parents,  is  a  rather  large  task  for  a  brief  nine 
weeks.  But  the  foundation  of  friendships  laid 
will  surely  enable  everyone  to  "come  home"  an- 
other summer  and  to  take  up  eagerly  the  re-ac- 
quaintance with  boys  and  girls  who  have  advanced 
one  more  year  on  their  way  toward  man  and 
womanhood. 

A  report  of  the  laboratory  findings,  in  para- 
graphic form,  will  be  included  in  the  summer's 
report  on  each  child  which  will  be  sent  to  each 
parent  at  the  close  of  the  school.  This  report  will 
include  teachers'  estimates,  a  comparison  with 
parents'  reports,  winter  school  progress,  physical 
condition,  etc. 


302  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

4.    MENTAL  HYGIENE  WITH  THE  CHILDREN 

It  has  long  been  the  belief  of  the  writer  that 
not  all  corrective  and  developmental  work  need 
be  done  for  a  child,  but  that  he  will  help  himself 
a  great  deal  if  he  can  just  be  made  to  see  clearly 
what  he  needs.  Of  course,  this  is  not  extensively 
possible  with  children  of  five  and  six  and  seven, 
but  it  begins  to  be  true  there,  and  the  possibility 
grows  with  age.  A  child  of  ten  who  is  found  to 
have  a  general  ability  two  or  three  years  ahead 
of  his  age,  but  who  is  shy  and  afraid  to  venture 
into  even  group  activities,  needs  to  be  told  some- 
thing of  his  abilities.  A  boy  of  eleven  whose 
abilities  are  largely  superficial  and  due  to  a  fluent 
use  of  language  and  bluff  needs  to  be  shown  what 
he  does  not  know.  Such  work  has  been  begun 
with  the  children  this  summer,  the  first  seed  has 
been  sown.  It  will  take  a  long  time  to  see  the 
effects,  and  great  results  cannot  be  expected 
unless  the  work  is  continued  year  by  year.  An- 
other summer  it  might  be  possible  to  have  the 
older  children  in  their  regular  groups  and  teach 
them  the  importance  of  attitudes  and  of  ways  of 
doing  things;  right  ways  of  attacking  a  problem, 
the  value  of  planning  beforehand,  etc.,  all  through 
simple  concrete  experiments.  Only  one  group 
attempt  was  made  this  summer  to  stimulate  such 
interest  in  self-development.  A  Morning  Exer- 
cise period  was  taken  to  explain  why  we  did  sev- 
eral things  in  the  laboratory.  In  this  explanation 
an  attempt  was  made  to  emphasize  the  value  and 
need  of  bodily  activity  and  of  manual  tasks.  The 
following  stenographic  report  best  shows  how 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      303 

this  was  done.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the 
children  themselves  applied  the  lesson  and  have, 
in  individual  cases,  asked  in  various  departments 
for  the  things  they  most  needed.  For  instance, 
Waldron  went  the  next  morning  to  the  music 
teacher  and  asked  whether  they  might  have 
Rhythm  that  morning.  The  teacher  asked  why, 
and  he  explained  "My  curve  goes  the  wrong  way 
and  I  have  to  learn  to  use  my  hands  and  feet 
more."  So  they  worked  in  rhythm  all  the  morn- 
ing. 

Stenographic  Record  of  Morning  Exercise 

DR.  M.  I  have  brought  some  things  this  morn- 
ing so  that  I  can  tell  you  boys  and  girls  some  of 
the  facts  we  have  found  out  from  the  measure- 
ments you  allowed  us  to  make  when  you  were  in 
the  laboratory.  Maybe  you  will  remember  that  I 
promised  to  tell  you  why  we  did  certain  things 
after  we  had  had  all  of  you  into  the  laboratory, 
so  that  I  could  tell  you  all  at  the  same  time.  Do 
you  remember?  We  found  how  tall  you  were 
standing  and  sitting  down.  We  took  your  weight, 
and  then  used  this  little  thing  called  a  dyna- 
mometer, and  what  did  we  ask  you  to  do  with  it? 

PUPIL.     Squeeze  it. 

DR.  M.  Yes,  squeeze  it,  to  see  how  much  you 
could  grip — first  with  the  right  hand  and  then 

CLASS.     The  left. 

DR.  M.  And  we  let  you  have  several  trials, 
so  as  to  get  your  best  record  on  it.  After  we  had 
done  that  we  used — do  you  remember  thisf 
(Shows  spirometer.)  What  did  we  do  with  it? 

PUPIL.    Blew  into  it. 


304  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

DR.  M.  Yes,  to  see  how  much  what?  How 
much  air  in  your  lungs  you  could  blow  out,  and  it 
made  a  record  here  in  cubic  inches.  Some  could 
make  it  go  around  so  far,  and  some  could  make 
it  go  way  around  there,  and  the  bigger  ones 
farther  still,  and  a  teacher  almost  broke  the  ma- 
chine because  he  blew  it  the  whole  way  around. 
Now  we  have  made  these  records  on  everyone 
here.  Then  we  took  paper  and  pencils,  paper  with 
little  cross  lines  on  it,  and  we  made  curves — and 
those  curves  are  one  kind  of  picture  of  each  one 
of  you.  They  are  not  the  same  for  everybody — 
everyone  is  different — none  is  exactly  like  an- 
other because  no  two  of  you  are  exactly  alike,  in 
weight,  or  height,  or  any  of  these  things.  And 
that  is  the  way  we  made  those  pictures.  I  am 
going  to  let  each  one  of  you  see  your  picture  and 
see  what  you  can  make  out  of  it.  But,  first  of  all, 
is  a  boy  taller  if  he  is  younger  or  older,  in  age? 

CLASS.     Older. 

DR.  M.  Yes,  of  course — usually.  And  a  boy  is 
heavier  if  he  is  taller  and  older.  Could  the  older 
boys  grip  more  than  the  little  ones  ? 

CLASS.    Yes. 

DR.  M.  Yes,  probably,  and  of  course,  grown- 
up people  record  more  than  little  people  can  in 
gripping  and  blowing.  First  of  all  in  making 
these  pictures  on  curves  we  turn  to  a  page  hav- 
ing the  sheet  of  figures  for  children  ten  or  eleven 
years  old,  according  to  the  age  of  the  child  we 
have  measured,  and  we  compare  measures  we 
have  taken  with  these  sheets.  All  the  public 
school  children  in  Chicago  were  weighed  and 
measured  just  as  you  were,  and  from  this  and 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      305 

other  measures  made  in  St.  Louis  and  New  Or- 
leans and  some  made  in  Philadelphia  we  made  up 
standards,  or  forms,  and  this  showed  the  average 
things  that  boys  of  each  age  ought  to  be  able  to 
do.  A  boy  of  ten  years  ought  to  be  so  tall — prob- 
ably. Some  would  be  so  tall  (indicating),  and 
some  so  tall.  The  tallest  boy  would  be  100%  in 
height  for  his  age,  and  the  shortest  zero.  And 
we  have  tested  all  the  children  measured  in  that 
way,  and  found  what  they  could  do. 

Suppose  we  have  the  record  of  Johnny  Jones, 
who  doesn't  happen  to  be  here  today.  He  is  just 
ten  years  old  and  we  want  to  see  what  his  picture 
is,  and  how  he  compares  with  other  girls  and 
boys.  I  look  up  on  my  numbers  and  find  that  the 
tallest  boy  for  that  age  measured  was  just  that 
high, — we  call  this  100%  (indicating)  and  this 
(indicating)  zero.  Johnny  Jones  is  not  so  tall 
as  the  tallest,  and  not  so  small  as  the  smallest, 
and  we  put  him  in  there 


Johnny  Jones 

Then  we  compared  his  height  when  sitting ;  then 
his  weight,  to  see  where  he  comes,  and  find  that 
he  goes  way  up  there  (indicating  on  the  diagram), 
and  that  means  that  he  is  a  fat  boy.  If  he  were 


306  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

down  there  (indicating)  he  would  be  a  tall,  thin 
boy. 

Then  we  took  his  grip.  Now,  he  was  a  smart 
and  energetic  boy,  even  if  he  was  fat, — always 
doing  things, — and  so  when  it  comes  to  his  grip 
we  find  it  goes  way  up  (diagram),  and  his  left 
grip  was  not  quite  so  good,  because  he  was  a  right- 
handed  boy.  And  his  lung  capacity  was  pretty 
good.  Next,  we  take  and  draw  lines  like  this  and 


connect  these  little  dots  and  get  his  picture.  That 
(indicating)  is  the  weight  and  height,  and  we  av- 
erage these  and  that  average  will  go  in  about 
there  (diagram) ;  and  we  average  these  three  and 
they  come  in  about  there, — then  we  take  and  draw 
a  dotted  line  through  those  two  things  and  that 
means  something  very  important.  These  three 
things  in  here  (a)  mean  the  kind  of  body  that 
Johnny  Jones  has.  His  body  is  that  good — it  is 
good  from  there  (o)  up  to  there  (70),  in  other 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      307 

words,  it  is  as  good,  as  well  developed  as  the 
bodies  of  70%  of  boys  as  old  as  he. 

These  three  things  over  here  (b)  mean  the  way 
he  has  learned  to  use  his  body.  If  I  had  a  body 
and  didn't  learn  to  use  it,  I  would  not  have  any 
record  at  all  here.  That  means  that  I  have 
learned  to  make  my  mind  work  and  tell  my  body 
to  do  things.  My  mind  tells  me  to  grip  a  thing 
and  squeeze  it,  and  I  do  it.  That  is  the  mind 
control  of  the  thing.  You  might  have  lots  of 
muscle,  lots  of  flesh  that  could  be  muscle  if 
trained;  and  unless  trained  by  a  good  mind  it 
would  not  record  anything  there.  So  this  means 
the  mind's  control  of  the  body. 

Now,  when  a  person's  control  of  the  body  is 
higher  here  (b)  than  the  body  development  is 
there  (6),  that  means  that  he  is  doing  in  mental 
control  all  that  could  be  expected  of  him  for  the 
body  he  has.  When  we  have  really  normal  people, 
or  people  who  are  healthy  in  body  and  mind,  the 
mind  control  marks  almost  always  run  up  a  little 
bit,  sometimes  a  great  deal;  the  more  it  runs  up 
the  more  that  means  that  you  have  learned  to 
make  connection  between  the  things  your  mind 
wants  you  to  do  and  the  capacity  of  your  body 
to  do  those  things,  and  the  more  your  body  sub- 
serves the  purpose  of  your  mind. 

Now  suppose  we  take  Edward  Smith,  in  the 
same  school.  He  also  is  about  ten  years  old.  We 
find  that  he  is  a  little  short  boy.  His  sitting 
height  puts  him  about  there  (30%)  and  his 
weight  about  there  (31),  which  is  all  right,  he  is 
not  very  fat.  But  he  has  always  been  a  lazy  boy, 
never  doing  anything  he  could  get  out  of.  If  he 


308  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

has  a  younger  sister  or  a  younger  brother,  he 
tells  them  to  bring  in  the  wood ;  he  never  does  it. 
The  teacher  asks  for  volunteers  for  a  piece  of 
work, — Edward  never  does  it.  He  never  wants 
to  play  ball  if  there  is  anything  easier  to  play, 
and  all  around  he  has  never  taught  his  body  to 
do  the  things  his  mind  asks  it  to  do.  His  grip 
would  come  there  (20),  his  blowing  would  put  him 
way  below  nothing.  And  so,  when  you  connect 
these  in  that  way,  you  get  an  entirely  different 
picture  from  what  you  do  when  you  draw  Johnny 
Jones.  And  when  I  draw  the  dotted  line  to  con- 
nect them  you  get  something  like  this : 


ioos     »     £     o     o 

90 
80 
70 
69 

60 
40 
30 
20 
10 
0 


Now  you  might  also  get  this  under  other  con- 
ditions. Suppose  it  is  someone  who  is  growing 
fast,  or  someone  who  is  sick  or  handicapped  in 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      309 

some  way,  not  strong,  someone  who  cannot  take 
a  great  deal  of  exercise, — you  are  going  to  get 
that  same  kind  of  a  curve.  And  when  you  get  that 
kind  of  a  curve  you  must  study  that  person  to 
see  why  he  is  lazy  or  handicapped.  But  almost 
any  person,  even  people  who  have  been  sick,  can 
make  their  curve  come  up  this  way  if  they  make 
themselves  do  things  with  their  hands,  and  walk 
and  run  and  play  and  do  things  out  of  doors. 

Now  I  am  going  to  show  you  a  teacher's  curve, 
but  before  I  do  that  I  want  to  tell  you  a  story 
about  a  man  something  like  this  teacher  in  one 
way,  but  very  different  from  him  altogether.  He 
lived  about  five  hundred  miles  from  here.  He  was 
about  as  big  as  this  teacher,  and  we  know  that  he 
was  very  strong.  But  he  had  been  born  with  a 
sick  mind,  a  mind  that  could  not  do  anything.  He 
never  even  learned  to  talk  very  much,  even  to  ask 
for  things  he  wanted  when  he  was  hungry.  When 
he  grew  up  he  had  to  be  taken  care  of  in  a  hospital 
for  people  whose  minds  are  sick,  and  who  have 
great,  big,  strong  bodies,  but  who  have  not  any 
mind  and  so  cannot  learn  to  use  their  bodies.  One 
day  a  dentist  came  and  wanted  to  look  at  this 
man's  teeth.  He  did  not  have  mind  enough  to 
know  whether  he  had  a  toothache  or  not,  and  it 
took  six  other  men  to  get  him  into  the  dentist's 
chair,  because  he  was  afraid.  When  we  got  him 
into  the  laboratory  and  he  saw  a  thing  like  this 
(spirometer)  he  could  not  do  as  much  as  Doris 
or  Elwin  or  anybody  else  here.  His  mind  was 
sick  and  he  could  not  direct  his  body.  He  had  a 
curve  that  looked  like  this : 


310  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 


He  could  not  do  anything,  and  when  we  drew 
the  dotted  line  it  went  like  that.  He  could  not 
learn  even  to  wheel  a  wheelbarrow. 

Now  here  is  the  teacher's  chart, — he  does  not 
mind  my  using  him  for  comparison.  Here  is  his 
curve : — the  curve  of  a  man  who  is  as  tall  as  most 
men — there's  his  sitting  height  compared  with 
most  men  (some  men  are  taller  when  they  sit 
down) — a  little  stouter  than  most  men  of  his 
height.  His  right-hand  grip  is  way  up  there,  al- 
most as  high  as  anyone's  could  be,  and  his  left- 
hand  grip  is  almost  as  good ;  and  his  lung  capacity 
is  way  up  there,  and  even  though  he  is  a  big  man, 
when  we  draw  the  curve  we  get  the  sort  of  thing 
that  shows  a  mind  using  its  body  very  well,  or  it 
shows  a  man  who  is  using  his  hands  under  the 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      311 

direction  of  his  mind, — quite  different  from  this 
other. 


v 


too 

90 
80 
70 
60 
60 
40 
30 
20 
10 
0 


Now,  you  all  have  minds  enough  to  use  your 
bodies,  or  all  the  mind  you  need  to  make  good 
records  here.  But  some  have  made  very  queer 
curves,  and  some  are  as  splendid  as  any  I  have 
ever  seen.  Now  I  am  going  to  let  each  of  you 
have  the  curve  you  made,  and  Miss  W.  or  I  will 
explain  anything  you  want  to  know.  If  you  want 
to  show  it  to  the  other  boys  and  girls,  you  may, 
but  you  don't  have  to.  Don't  talk  too  loud,  and 
hand  the  curve  back  to  us  when  you  leave  the 
room. 

Week  after  next  we  are  going  to  make  new 
records  of  these  things  and  see  now  the  dotted 
lines  compare.  But  it  is  not  just  using  these 
instruments  that  makes  your  curve  better, — it  is 
the  practice  you  get  in  using  your  bodies  intelli- 
gently through  the  day — making  jour  bodies  do 
the  things  you  want  them  to  do.  You  cannot  make 
nearly  as  good  a  record  on  either  of  these  ma- 


312  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

chines  if  you  begin  slowly  and  only  really  decide 
to  grip  or  blow  after  you  have  used  most  of  your 
energy  in  an  aimless,  disinterested  way,  as  if  you 
went  at  it  energetically  and  did  it  with  a  vim. 
But  you  cannot  learn  to  do  this  thing  well  unless 
you  go  at  other  things  in  a  proper  frame  of  mind, 
without  wasting  half  a  day  deciding  what  you  are 
going  to  do.  And  you  cannot  bluff  in  these  things. 
You  might  on  the  playground,  but  when  you  get 
up  here  in  the  laboratory,  this  tells  just  what  you 
are. 

(Dr.  M.  pass  s  around  a  teacher's  chart  for  the 
children  to  see,  and  then  the  children's  charts.) 

DOROTHY  N.    What  does  this  mean? 

DB.  M.  It  means  that  you  must  learn  to  do 
more  things.  Your  lung  capacity  is  good,  but  you 
must  learn  to  do  some  things  at  home  with  your 
hands. 

MABION.    What  does  this  show! 

DR.  M.  That  means  that  you  cannot  play  very 
well.  You  are  a  little  fat,  and  doing  games  and 
dances  and  such  things  is  going  to  make  you 
better.  (To  Elinor.)  You  are  kind  of  fat,  and 
you  don't  walk  a  great  deal  nor  do  things  well. 
If  you  learn  to  keep  up  with  your  teacher  on  your 
Nature  Walks  without  getting  out  of  breath,  that 
curve  will  probably  come  up.  Learn  to  do  all 
kinds  of  things  at  home.  You  are  very  big  for 
a  girl  of  your  age  and  it  is  much  harder  for  you 
to  get  this  red  line  to  point  up.  (To  Dorothy  E.) 
You  are  eleven.  This  line  would  be  about  this 
high  for  the  average.  You  are  small  for  eleven 
years.  Your  mother  and  father  are  probably 
small.  (Yes.)  That  puts  you  down  below  the 


average,  and  you  don't  weigh  as  much  as  you 
ought  to  for  a  girl  as  tall  as  you  are.  That  means 
that  you  are  growing  fast.  Now,  because  of  that, 
you  have  not  got  the  weight  to  give  you  the  ca- 
pacity for  much  grip.  You  really  still  belong  with 
the  ten-year  old  children  in  height  and  weight. 
And  you  need  exactly  what  you  are  getting  here 
this  summer — out-of-door  play  and  dances,  not 
too  many  books  and  not  too  much  of  indoor  things. 

KICHABD  N.  According  to  this,  I  am  not  half 
as  high  as  I  ought  to  be. 

DR.  M.  Yes,  you  are  all  right  for  your  age. 
You  are  exactly  average  for  a  boy  thirteen  years 
of  age.  (To  Edward.}  You  are  taller  than  any 
boy  of  your  age;  so  that  makes  it  hard  for  your 
grip  to  go  up  high  enough  to  balance  it,  but  your 
curve  is  very  good. 

HARRIET.     Is  this  anywhere  near  normal? 

DR.  M.  It  is  absolutely  what  it  ought  to  be, 
and  a  little  more — there 's  nothing  to  worry  about. 

We  might  add  that  re-measurement  at  the  end 
of  the  term  showed  improvement  in  the  upward 
trend  of  the  red  psycho-motor  control  line  in  prac- 
tically every  case.  In  several  the  change  was  re- 
markable, accompanying  other  marked  changes  in 
the  children. 

One  other  piece  of  work  grew  out  of  this  at- 
tempt at  mental  hygiene.  The  group  of  the 
youngest  children  in  the  school,  seven  in  all, 
showed  itself,  through  the  study  of  the  individuals 
in  the  laboratory,  to  be  a  very  exceptional  group 
of  children  each  needing  some  special  kind  of  help 
to  round  out  his  development.  In  all  of  them  the 


314  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

mental  level  itself  was  above  the  level  of  motor 
control  and  coordination.  They  were  poor  in  the 
little  simple  things  all  children  usually  learn  for 
themselves,  they  all  lacked  any  idea  of  group 
solidarity.  Because  of  this  we  decided  to  take 
them  for  a  half-hour  each  day  and  form  with 
them  a  "  training "  class,  the  curriculum  of  which 
would  be  based  in  a  general  way  on  the  lines  of 
weakness  indicated  by  our  psychological  exami- 
nation of  each  child.  It  must  not  be  thought  that 
these  deficiences  meant  actual  mental  defect,  they 
were,  instead,  the  attributes  in  which  children 
were  relatively  poor,  although  the  general  mental 
level  of  most  of  the  children  was  average  or  above 
average.  Summarizing  the  findings  on  the  whole 
group  showed  them  poor  in  motor  control,  very 
poor  in  coordination  of  two  limbs  or  the  simulta- 
neous use  of  two  senses,  very  poor  in  knowledge 
of  their  own  bodies  and  of  their  immediate  sur- 
roundings, uncertain  yet  oversure  of  what  they 
heard  and  saw  and  felt,  shy  and  unwilling  to  talk 
freely,  each  an  independent  unit,  little  conscious 
of  his  social  group. 

We  attacked  these  things  through  a  combined 
usage  of  Seguin,  Montessori,  Froebel,  and  com- 
mon sense.  Little  hands  that  cannot  do  things 
will  work  better  if  under  the  control  of  a  mind 
interested  in  a  game  or  in  making  something. 
Drawing,  tracing,  coloring,  folding,  cutting,  past- 
ing, sewing,  subserve  this  aim  as  well  as  building 
with  blocks,  doing  puzzles,  making  houses.  Learn- 
ing to  know  one's  body  is  essential  to  the  use  of 
it,  voluntarily  we  talked  even  to  the  point  of 
studying  the  joints -and  of  finding  different  kinds 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      315 

of  joints.  This  was  used  in  a  simple  adaptation 
of  Swedish  Calisthenics  which  warmed  little  toes 
and  fingers  on  cold  mornings,  and  made  wonder- 
ful games  with  them  and  yet  encouraged  immedi- 
ate and  similar  responses  to  commands  from  the 
group  as  a  whole.  The  children  have  been  allowed 
at  least  one  morning  each  week  for  free  play  on 
whatever  they  chose.  These  mornings  were  the 
best  kind  of  an  indication  of  the  real  interests  of 
the  children.  Some  played  persistently  with  one 
thing,  others  tried  all  sorts  of  things,  one  after 
another  as  quickly  as  possible.  For  the  first  four 
weeks  each  child  would  play  alone,  although  they 
would  lend  and  exchange  toys  or  games  quite 
readily.  The  fifth  week  of  our  work  showed  a 
marked  change.  When  told  they  might  do  what 
they  wished,  the  group  resolved  itself  into  three 
who  played  as  a  group  building  with  blocks,  while 
the  other  four  gathered  around  the  writer  and 
asked  to  "make  those  things  that  go  round  on  a 
stick"  (pinwheels).  The  work  done  by  and  with 
the  little  class  may  be  made  more  clear  by  the  fol- 
lowing daily  records: 

Report  of  Training  Class 

AIM:  The  immediate  aim  of  today's  work 
was  twofold.  1.  To  accustom  the  children  to  work 
in  the  laboratory.  2.  To  begin  work  in  knowledge 
of  their  bodies,  in  motor  control,  in  group  action, 
color,  number,  form  and  language. 

METHOD:  Class  was  taught  to  stand  in  a 
straight  line,  spacing  their  position  by  the  gray 
blocks  on  the  floor.  Then  asked  to  show  their 


316  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

right  side.  Went  through  several  motions  with 
right  hand,  turning  to  all  parts  of  the  room,  nam- 
ing the  objects  toward  which  their  hands  pointed. 
Then  asked  to  count  eyes,  ears,  hands,  etc.  Chil- 
dren next  gave  names  of  other  parts  of  their 
bodies  and  pointed  towards  them.  They  gave 
spontaneously  eyes,  stomach,  side,  cheeks,  neck. 
Taught  chin,  forehead,  chest.  Then  taught  rais- 
ing and  dropping  right  foot  to  counting  of  1,  2. 
Changed  the  time  relation  of  1,  2  from  fast  to 
slow  and  to  an  actual  delay.  We  next  took  up 
work  on  color  and  form  with  reproductions.  Us- 
ing colored  pencils  and  white  paper  we  all  drew 
free-hand  circles.  We  then  turned  our  pencils 
into  men  and  had  them  run  round  and  round  the 
round  path.  We  then  drew  straight  paths  across 
the  paper,  freely  and  rapidly.  They  took  various 
forms  and  drew  from  the  forms  in  outline, 
squares,  ovals,  etc.  Each  child  had  a  different 
form.  The  outlined  forms  were  then  filled  in 
freely  with  color.  Colored  forms  were  then  ex- 
changed after  each  had  written  his  name  on  his 
own  sheet  and  similar  forms  were  picked  out  from 
a  great  variety  of  forms  placed  in  rows.  They 
were  to  pick  the  ones  of  the  same  shape,  disre- 
garding color  and  size.  Each  child  was  then  given 
a  definite  part  in  the  task  of  putting  away  all 
materials. 

RESPONSE:  The  children  cooperated  far  better 
than  I  expected  for  their  first  day's  work.  They 
all  need  to  be  encouraged  in  freedom  of  speech 
but  none  refused  to  answer  when  questioned. 
They  work  even  more  quickly  in  adapting  to  new 
work  than  I  imagined  and  will  be  able  to  accom. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      317 

plish  a  satisfactory  amount  in  the  half-hour 
period.  The  children  were  allowed  to  take  home 
their  drawings.  They  are  always  more  apt  to  stay 
interested  in  work  when  they  find  they  have 
created  something  objectively  and  when  they  can 
call  that  thing  their  ovrn. 

Elwin  was  the  leader,  Doris  needed  the  most 
encouragement  but  she  was  thorough  in  the  work 
she  did.  The  P—  -  children  were  quite  alike  in 
the  work  they  did  and  both  volunteered  several 
spontaneous  comments. 

Report  of  Training  Class 

AIM:  Continuation  of  work  on  more  elemen- 
tary forms  of  motor  coordination,  knowledge  of 
body,  use  of  language  and  work  with  colors,  form 
and  sound. 

METHOD  :  Drilled  in  line  for  raising  and  lower- 
ing of  right  arm  and  foot.  Began  a  little  develop- 
ment of  use  of  left  but  referred  to  the  word  left 
only  once  or  twice.  Next  continued  querying 
about  parts  of  the  body,  getting  as  many  parts 
named  voluntarily  as  possible,  then  asking  them 
to  point  to  other  parts,  and  finally  giving  them 
the  names,  elbow,  waist  and  wrist.  Next  took  up 
coordination  work  through  the  use  of  paper  and 
pencil.  Each  child  chose  his  own  color  to  work 
with.  We  first  drew  free-hand  circles  and  fol- 
lowed them  again  and  again  trying  not  to  fill  in 
the  center.  The  first  drawn  were  all  sponta- 
neously made  counter-clockwise.  We  then  made 
others  that  went  in  the  opposite  direction.  Called 
these  circles  " bird-nests"  and  filled  them  in  with 


318  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

''eggs"  (small  circles),  all  circles  being  drawn 
with  whole  arm  movement.  We  next  made  our 
pencils  "swing"  the  whole  way  across  the  paper 
and  finally  made  believe  that  our  pencils  were 
automobiles  running  back  and  forth  on  a  straight 
road.  We  next  took  forms  drawn  from  memory 
and  both  Howard  and  Guy  could  draw  a  circle, 
a  square  and  a  triangle.  Then,  taking  the  out- 
lines for  the  Montessori  insets,  we  traced  more 
complicated  forms  and  filled  them  in  with  color 
to  suit  ourselves,  just  being  sure  the  movement 
used  was  the  right  one.  Howard  and  Guy  enjoyed 
this  and  Ruth  was  able  to  make  a  form  alone  after 
she  had  been  helped  on  one.  It  was  too  hard  for 
Pauline  who  watched  the  others  and  drew  to  suit 
herself.  Guy  and  Howard  next  matched  solid 
black  forms  of  many  shapes  with  outlines  of  the 
same.  They  next  sorted  the  two  types  of  form 
representation  back  into  their  proper  boxes.  We 
then  spent  a  few  moments  on  the  distinguishing 
of  sounds.  Used  the  Montessori  boxes  with  corn, 
pebbles,  gravel,  sand  and  flaxseed  and  asked  them 
to  find  the  loudest,  the  lightest  two,  etc.  Taught 
them  how  to  compare  these.  Guy  grasped  the 
procedure  much  more  readily  than  Howard.  Then 
asked  them  to  listen  and  distinguish  taps  on  wood, 
the  floor  and  the  radiator.  Guy  became  quite 
excited  over  this.  We  finished  with  a  few  minutes 
on  the  verbal  description  of  pictures. 

RESPONSE  :  Due  to  the  necessity  for  presenting 
most  of  the  class  results  in  connection  with  the 
description  of  the  work  evoking  them,  it  is  im- 
possible coldly  to  present  all  results  separately. 
The  children  seemed  to  enjoy  the  work.  They 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      319 

talked  much  more  freely  than  yesterday  and 
seemed  almost  eager  in  several  situations.  They 
grasp  what  is  wanted  with  only  partial  directions 
and  work  rapidly. 

Ruth  and  Pauline  worked  through  the  period 
with  the  others,  although  Pauline  had  to  go  early 
for  her  nap.  She  and  Ruth  follow  the  class  work 
until  it  becomes  too  difficult,  then  they  continue 
their  own  line  of  activities  without  any  real  super- 
vision. Pauline  joined  the  work  on  motor  co- 
ordination and  physical  drill  of  her  own  accord. 
Ruth  would  not. 

Report  of  Training  Class 

AIM  :  Training  in  motor  coordination  and  also 
in  the  finer  use  of  stereognosis. 

METHOD:  At  the  end  of  the  rest  period  gave 
the  children  the  story  of  the  Parrot  and  the  Cat. 
We  then  placed  the  whole  group  in  line,  went 
through  some  of  the  arm  raising  and  arm  alter- 
nation movements.  Then  had  them  place  their 
hands  on  the  shoulders  of  the  person  in  front  of 
them  and  had  them  march.  This  was  the  first 
time  we  had  the  whole  group  present.  As  a  re- 
sult, their  work  was  far  below  that  of  any  day 
heretofore.  They  had  great  difficulty  keeping  in 
step  and  Howard  even  lost  some  of  the  control  he 
had  previously  shown.  We  then  walked  up  to  the 
large  porch  and  tried  marching  there,  using  after 
a  bit  the  music  of  the  victrola.  This  seemed  to 
help  them  a  little,  but  even  so  was  not  fully  sat- 
isfactory but  was  good  for  a  group  with  such 
widely  differing  abilities.  We  then  went  down 


320  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

to  the  laboratory,  going  down  through  the  house 
so  that  the  children  might  have  the  practice  of 
going  quietly  through  the  room,  of  going  down 
stairs  and  yet  at  the  same  time  keep  in  line. 
Jack  had  the  most  difficulty  in  this  as  he  has  to 
place  both  feet  on  each  step  and  always  comes 
down  sideways.  We  next  took  up  a  little  intro- 
ductory work  with  stereognosis  or  recognition 
through  the  sense  of  touch.  The  children  took 
turns  putting  their  hands  into  a  large  bag,  picking 
up  one  object  and  then  feeling  it  until  they  could 
tell  what  it  was.  Then  they  removed  the  object 
and  showed  it  to  the  class  to  prove  they  were 
right.  At  first  they  were  rather  poor  in  this. 
Jack  called  a  pencil  a  stick.  Doris  called  a  pen 
another  stick.  They  were  all  eager  to  try  again 
and  again  and  were  much  better  after  their  first 
experience.  We  then  took  various  solids  and 
asked  them  to  tell  the  shape.  This  was  much 
harder  and  work  on  it  was  merely  introduced 
before  the  end  of  the  period. 

RESPONSE:  The  little  class  lacks  homogeneity 
and  the  whole  period  was  practically  an  attempt 
to  establish  some  general  consensus  of  response. 
Jack  is  far  more  ready  to  fit  into  the  group. 
Edith  is  distracted  by  the  number  there.  Perkins 
pays  no  attention  to  anything.  Elwin  and  Guy 
are  the  most  reliable  workers. 

Report  of  Training  Class 

AIM:  Development  of  further  group  harmony 
through  simple  following  of  verbal  directions  for 
group  activity,  as  an  introductory  period,  fol- 
lowed by  free  constructive  play. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      321 

METHOD  :  The  group  chose  their  own  positions 
and  then  carried  out,  with  a  real  snap  and  eager- 
ness entirely  lacking  in  their  earlier  work,  the 
verbal  commands  given  them  to  raise  arms,  lower 
arms,  bend  trunk  backward  with  deep  breathing, 
etc.  They  have  now  reached  the  point  where  they 
work  as  a  whole.  Jack  has  learned  to  control  his 
hurried  reactions  until  they  match  those  of  the 
group.  In  like  fashion,  Edith  and  Guy  have 
learned  to  work  more  quickly.  They  march  very 
well  together  with  the  exception  of  Howard,  who 
just  cannot  keep  in  step  with  anyone.  After  this 
drill  work,  they  were  told  they  could  do  anything 
that  they  wished  for  the  rest  of  the  time.  With- 
out any  suggestion  they  resolved  themselves  into 
two  groups.  The  one  group  took  all  of  the  blocks 
and  played  together  with  them.  The  other  group 
of  four  demanded  that  they  be  allowed  to  "make 
those  things  that  go  round  on  a  stick."  They 
also  knew  that  they  might  need  help  on  the  vari- 
ous operations  through  which  colored  papers  must 
pass  in  becoming  pinwheels  and  clustered  closely 
around  the  teacher.  As  they  had  made  simple 
pinwheels  before,  they  were  this  time  shown  how 
to  prepare  two  papers  and  have  a  pinwheel  which 
is  differently  colored  inside  and  out.  The  colors 
chosen  for  use  together  in  this  fashion  were  most 
aesthetic.  None  of  the  children  needed  any  help 
in  choosing  such  combinations  as  lavender  and 
white,  orange  and  a  flowered  orange-red,  etc. 
They  worked  very  rapidly  compared  with  their 
earlier  attempts  at  cutting  and  folding.  All  of 
the  pinwheels  were  made  satisfactorily  enough  to 
work  in  the  stiff  breeze  that  was  blowing  and  were 


322  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

carried  home  whirling  constantly  in  the  automo- 
biles. 

RESPONSE:  This  is  the  first  time  that  the  chil- 
dren have  chosen  to  work  together  on  any  one 
common  occupation.  Usually  each  child  has  taken 
his  rug  and  his  chosen  toy  and  gone  off  into  a  spot 
where  he  could  play  alone.  Today  they  showed 
they  were  at  least  conscious  enough  of  each  other 
to  be  influenced  by  the  suggestion  of  what  another 
child  wanted  to  do,  and  to  wish  to  do  the  same 
thing. 

Stenographic  Report 

The  following  stenographic  report  will  illus- 
trate a  little  more  fully  the  freedom  that  has  been 
developed  in  the  class. 

After  an  exhilarating  frolic  on  the  grass,  en- 
joyed to  the  utmost,  the  children  are  told  to  lie 
quietly  on  their  rugs — in  preparation  for  their 
indoor  lesson — and  go  to  sleep.  Some  start  to 
snore,  but  stop  when  they  hear  Dr.  M.  say  that 
people  who  breathe  rightly  don't  make  any  noise 
at  all  when  they  sleep. 

DR.  M.  We  must  keep  quiet  because  soon  we 
have  got  to  work. 

JACK.    What  work? 

DR.  M.    Well,  marching,  —  marching  together. 

JACK.    I  know  how  to  do  that. 

DR.  M.  (A  few  quiet  moments  having  elapsed.) 
Elwin  and  Howard  have  been  so  quiet  I  am  going 
to  ask  them  to  go  in  with  their  rugs  and  move  the 
tables  into  place.  They  have  been  really  resting. 
And  Doris  (who  has  also  been  very  still)  you 
may  go  in  and  see  that  the  chairs  are  out  of  the 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY   323 

way.  Edith,  will  you  please  go  and  help?  Now, 
boys,  the  rest  of  you — get  up  and  bring  your  rugs. 

GUY.    Jacky  says  he  has  not  rested  enough. 

DR.  M.  (Acquiescing.)  All  right,  Jacky,  you 
may  stay  out  and  rest  as  long  as  you  wish. 

(Elwin  and  Guy  are  set  to  work  piling  up  the 
rugs  neatly.) 

DR.  M.    Do  you  know  what  we  are  going  to  do  T 

HOWARD.     March. 

(Jack  comes  in.  Howard  has  been  standing  very 
erect  and  ready  for  the  exercise.  The  other  chil- 
dren are  busy  about  the  weighing  machine,  and 
Dr.  M.  goes  up  to  them.) 

DR.  M.  Not  so  loud!  Before  the  end  of  the 
summer  we  will  weigh  you  all  again.  Now  every- 
one find  a  square  [of  the  tiled  floor]  to  stand  on. 
(The  children  have  now  selected  their  squares, 
Jack,  Edith  and  Perkins  being  the  last  to  get 
fixed.)  Feet  together!  Hands  at  the  side! 
Fingers  together!  Arms  straight!  Good!  Every- 
body's eyes  turned  this  way,  to  see  what  they  are 
going  to  do.  Edith  is  really  looking  today.  Now, 
arms  sideways — raise!  Arms — drop!  Good! 
Now,  everybody  together :  Arms — raise !  Arms — 
drop !  Just  as  high  as  the  shoulders,  arms — raise ! 
Hands  turn !  Arms  drop !  Arms  sideways  raise ! 
Hands  turn!  Arms  drop!  That's  right.  Arms 
over  the  head,  raise!  Arms  to  the  shoulders, 
drop!  Hands  turn!  Arms  sink! 

Now  hands  on  the  hips,  please.  Good.  Fingers 
together.  (To  Perkins.)  Point  your  hands  down- 
ward, down  on  your  hips,  where  you  can  feel  the 
bone. 

JACK.    Pauline  wants  to  do  it. 


324  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

DR.  M.  Yes,  but  she  is  too  little  to  do  all  the 
things.  She  can  do  some  of  the  things.  (To  tine 
Class.)  Draw  your  feet  together.  Edith,  get  your 
feet  together. 

JACK.    My  arms  are  getting  tired. 

DR.  M.  Eise  on  your  toes, — rise!  Sink!  Rise 
on  your  toes!  Sink!  Hands  drop!  Hands  for- 
ward— watch  I  Don't  do  anything,  but  think. 
Forward,  raise,  over  the  head — just  as  high. 
Eeady !  Hands  forward ! — Over  the  head  I  Raise 
—that's  it! 

JACK.    Now,  what  are  we  going  to  do? 

DR.  M.  Sweep  forward  and  touch  the  floor 
without  bending  the  knees.  Beady, — go! 

ELWIBT.    My  knees  bend. 

DR.  M.  Yes,  but  you  are  getting  it  much  better 
than  at  first.  Now  do  it  again  without  me,  so  that 
I  can  see  how  you  do  it.  Hands  over  the  head, 
raise!  Eeady!  Everybody  bend!  That's  it, 
that's  very  good — everyone.  Now  one  thing 
more:  Slowly  forward  bend,  and  clasp  your 
ankles.  Take  hold  of  the  ankles  with  your  hands, 
— bend  forward  slowly  and  take  hold  of  your 
ankles  with  your  hands  without  the  knees  bend- 
ing. That 's  good,  Jack !  Good,  that's  fine! 

Now  we  are  going  to  do  the  windmill.  Left 
hand  down !  Eight  hand,  raise !  Bodies  straight 
— the  mill  has  to  be  straight.  Now  ready,  the 
wind  is  coming. 

ELWIN.  (Listening  to  the  out-of-doors.)  I  can 
hear  it. 

DR.  M.  Yes!  Let's  make  believe,  then,  that 
that  is  making  the  sails  go.  Change,  Change! 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      325 

Change,  Change!  Change,  Change!  Change, 
Change!  Now  the  wind  is  stopping,  the  wind  is 
stopping.  (The  sails  turn  less  and  less  briskly.) 

GUY.    It  is  coming  up  again. 

DB.  M.  Slowly,  slowly, — that's  it!  Now  let 
them  stop  entirely.  (The  sails  stop  turning.) 
Now  in  line  for  the  march.  Doris  is  the  leader. 
(But  Jack  gets  in  front,  and  starts  without  sig- 
nal.) Well,  if  you  are  going  to  run  away  before 
the  rest  of  the  people  are  ready  to  march,  Jack, 
we  will  have  to  pick  out  a  more  responsible  leader. 
(The  line  is  formed  again.)  What  foot  first! 

CLASS.    The  left. 

JACK.  There  is  one  reason  I  don't  like  to  be 
leader.  Do  you  know  why? 

DB.  M.    No.    Why! 

JACK.    They  pull. 

DR.  M.  Yes,  they  do,  so  all  must  try  and  go 
just  as  quickly  as  possible  today,  and  take  the 
same  step  with  the  others,  because  otherwise  it 
makes  a  dreadful  pull.  (Guy  lets  Pauline  into  the 
line  in  front  of  him  and  is  thanked  for  it.)  Now 
left  foot,  march!  Left,  right,  left,  right,  etc. 
(The  children  march  around  well,  but  get  into  a 
pretty  small  circle.)  Pretty  good!  Pauline  comes 
out  now  in  front  as  the  leader!  All  right,  Jack, 
suppose  you  let  Pauline  lead,  and  I  will  take  her 
hand,  so  as  to  get  a  longer  line  for  the  march. 
All  right, — left,  right,  left,  right  (and  the  children 
march  again,  making  a  better  line). 

JACK.    They  're  choking  me. 

PERKINS.  May  I  make  my  windmill  today?  I 
should  like  to  make  it  today. 


326  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

DR.  M.  Those  who  started  the  windmills  the 
other  day  will  finish  them,  but  not  just  yet. 

(Doris,  Elwin,  Guy  and  Howard  fix  the  tables 
in  place.  Edith,  Jack  and  Perkins  are  engaged 
individually.) 

DR.  M.  Around  the  table!  Around  the  table 
first  of  all,  and  see  whether  we  can  do  this  so  care- 
fully that  we  will  know  everything  that  comes 
out.  (On  the  table  in  front  of  Dr.  M.  is  a  deep 
silk  bag,  closed  so  that  the  objects  inside  cannot 
be  seen.  As  the  child  puts  in  both  hands  to 
draw  out  an  object,  he  is  to  say  what  he  thinks  it 
is,  from  the  feeling,  before  he  draws  it  from  the 
bag  and  actually  sees  it.) 

Let's  have  the  little  girls  feel  first, — Doris. 

DORIS.  (Feeling  the  objects  in  the  bag,  and  se- 
lecting one.)  Paper.  (She  draws  out  a  blotter.) 

DR.  M.  (To  the  class.)  I  want  you  to  feel  in 
the  bag  in  a  very  systematic  way, — that  is,  in  a 
way  that  has  a  rule  to  it.  Doris  has  done  it. 
Doris,  come  to  this  side  of  me,  and  the  others 
move  around  one  space,  and  that  brings  another 
person  in  front  of  the  bag. 

EDITH.  (Feeling.)  A  Dish.  (She  pulls  out  a 
low  bowl.) 

DR.  M.    Good,  it  is  a  dish. 

ELWIN.  (Feeling.)  A  dagger.  (Pulls  out  a 
big  dagger.) 

PERKINS.  (Feels  in  the  bag,  it  gets  disarranged 
and  he  says  he  can  see  in  it  and  doesn't  want  to 
— bag  is  re-adjusted.)  Oh,  I  feel  something — a 
cup. 

DR.  M.  Let's  see  if  it  was  a  cup.  (Perkins 
draws  out  a  paper  drinking  cup.)  GOOD!  You 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      327 

could  have  told  what  kind  of  cup  it  was,  couldn't 
you? 

JACK.     (Feels  in  the  bag.)    A  block. 

DR.  M.  Pull  it  out.  (Jack  draws  out  a  small 
block.)  Good! 

HOWARD.     (Feeling    in    the    bag.)      A    pencil. 
(Draws  out  a  pencil.) 
1  DR.  M.    Good. 

GUY.     (Feels  in  the  bag.) 

DR.  M.  Now,  that  brings  the  children  all 
around,  and  here's  Doris  ready  for  another  turn. 
(To  Guy.)  Have  you  found  something? 

GUY.  A  fish.  (He  draws  out  an  axe  cut  out  of 
paper.) 

DR.  M.  Well,  well!  What  a  queer  fish!  It 
isn't  a  fish,  is  it! 

GUY.     It  felt  something  like  a  fish. 

DR.  M.  I'll  tell  you  why.  You  felt  something 
in  there  the  other  day  that  was  a  fish,  and  that 
made  you  think  this  was  one.  But  you  should 
have  taken  both  hands  to  this. 

DORIS.  (Feels  again.)  Paper.  (Draws  out  a 
piece  of  paper.) 

(At  Dr.  M.'s  request,  the  children  put  the  things 
back  into  the  bag,  except  the  dish,  which  she  re- 
minds them  might  get  broken  there.  Sheets  of 
white  paper  are  distributed,  used  on  one  side, 
clean  on  the  other,  and  pencils.) 

DR.  M.  Please  turn  the  papers  to  the  side  that 
is  written  on,  and  see  if  you  can  tell  whose  paper 
you  have.  Please  give  it  to  the  person  it  belongs 
to.  Whose  do  you  have,  Doris?  Down  here  is  the 
name.  (Dr.  M.  spells  it  out  for  Doris,  J-a-c-k.) 
Do  you  know  who  that  is? 


328  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

DORIS.    Jack. 

(Elwin  has  Perkins'  paper,  and  the  name  is 
spelled  out  for  him.) 

DR.  M.  Now  take  the  clean  side.  (Perkins  is 
told  a  second  time,  by  Edith.) 

PERKINS.    I  want  to  make  a  windmill. 

DR.  M.  (To  the  children,  passing  the  box  of 
pencils.)  Pick  out  just  one  pencil — don't  take 
too  long  choosing — any  pretty  one.  (Jack 
sharpens  his  pencil  on  the  sharpener,  and  Perkins 
starts  to  do  the  same.)  Perkins,  if  you  do  all  the 
things  you  want  to  do  you  won't  have  time  to 
make  the  windmill,  which  you  very  much  want  to 
make.  (Perkins  is  given  a  good  pencil,  although 
he  first  tries  to  write  with  the  point  which  he  has 
extracted  from  his  other  pencil.) 

GUY.  It  is  windy  (as  the  door  bangs, — blown 
by  the  wind). 

JACK.    It  doesn't  seem  like  a  very  strong  wind. 

HOWARD.  On  the  water  it  feels  like  it  is  all 
wind. 

DR.  M.  We  won't  wait  for  Edith  (who  has 
gone  out).  I  would  like  to  have  everyone  make 
a  circle  for  me.  I  want  you  to  make  it  without 
your  arms  resting  on  the  table — with  your  arms 
up  in  the  air,  so  that  you  can  make  a  free  big 
movement.  Make  a  circle — go! 

JACK.  (Lifting  his  elbow  high.)  It  would  be 
rather  awkward  to  do  it  this  way. 

(Perkins  makes  a  very  good  big  circle.) 

DR.  M.  (To  Edith,  who  has  quickly  taken  her 
place  and  made  her  circle.)  Good!  You  didn't 
need  to  be  told  how  to  hold  your  arm.  Now,  those 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      329 

who  made  the  big  circles  please  make  a  little  one 
inside.  Those  who  made  little  circles,  make  a  big 
one  outside. 

HOWARD.    Mine  looks  like  a  target. 

DR.  M.  It  does.  Oh,  I  know  what  Guy's  looks 
like,  only  it  ought  to  be  brown. 

JACK.    A  doughnut. 

DR.  M.  Yes,  and  some  look  like  what  is  under 
the  wagon. 

CLASS.    Wheels. 

DR.  M.  Now  begin  on  the  inside  edge  and 
draw  straight  lines  right  out  to  the  outside  (she 
illustrates)  so  that  we  have  straight  lines  going 
from  the  little  circle  to  the  big  circle.  From  the 
edge  of  the  little  circle,  Guy  (who  is  drawing  his 
lines  from  the  central  point  of  the  inner  circle). 
Good,  Edith!  That's  fine,  Jack!  From  this  edge 
(to  Howard)  not  from  the  middle.  That's  fine, 
Edith. 

PERKINS.    I  have  mine  all  done. 

DR.  M.  Splendid,  Perkins.  Guy,  did  you  see 
how  Perkins  did  his?  That's  very  good,  Doris. 
Good,  Elwin. 

JACK.    Guy  went  across  the  little  circle. 

DR.  M.  Yes,  because  he  didn't  listen  carefully 
enough.  Now,  outside  those  circles  I  want  you  to 
draw,  without  looking  at  anybody  else,  a  small 
square — so  that  it  is  outside  the  circle.  Good  for 
you,  Perkins, — could  you  make  it  a  bit  more  even? 
Good,  Edith,  that's  fine.  Now  another  thing, 
without  looking  at  anybody  else, — a  triangle. 

HOWARD.    That's  easy  enough  to  make. 

DR.  M.     (To  Jack.)     Very  good,  good!     (To 


330  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

Edith,  who  is  not  sure  about  a  triangle.)  A  tri- 
angle has  three  sides,  Edith.  Jack,  will  you  let 
Edith  see  yours!  Now  the  next  thing  I  want  you 
to  make  is  something  you  have  never  done  before. 
You  know  it,  but  you  have  not  drawn  it.  I  want 
you  to  make  a  shape  that  looks  like  an  egg. 

JACK.  Oh,  that's  easy.  You  said  an  egg,  and 
I  made  a  snake's  egg. 

DR.  M.  (To  Guy.)  That's  pretty  good,  but  are 
eggs  the  same  width  at  both  ends?  Elwin's  is 
splendid.  Now  I  want  you  to  make  another  thing. 
You  have  made  it  before.  Can  you  remember  it, 
a  diamond  shape. 

CLASS.     Oh! 

PERKINS.  I  don't  remember  what  you  mean. 
(He  looks  at  Guy's  drawing  and  says,  "Oh  yes.") 

(Elwin  and  Howard  are  commended  for  making 
the  diamond  without  using  the  middle  line  across. 
Jack  is  encouraged  to  do  it  the  same  way.  Doris 
finds  it  hard,  and  Perkins  also.  Jack  criticises 
Edithfs  drawing,  and  Dr.  M.  reminds  him  that 
Edith  lias  to  grow  two  years  before  she  is  as  old 
as  he  is  now.) 

DR.  M.  Now  write  your  names  on  this  side  of 
the  paper. 

JACK.  Which  side?  (He  is  told  again.)  If  you 
will  give  me  time  enough  I  will  write  my  whole 
name. 

DR.  M.    We  will  give  you  time. 

(The  class  now  prepares  for  the  windmills.) 

PERKINS.     I  would  like  to  make  mine. 

HOWARD.     Can  I  make  one? 

DR.  M.  Those  who  don't  want  to  make  wind- 
mills can  do  whatever  they  want  to. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      331 

(Perkins  and  Elwin  bring  out  their  papers  for 
the  windmill.  Jack  has  not  yet  finished  with  his 
name.  Guy  and  Howard  have  their  papers  ready 
for  the  windmill.  Elwin  shows  Perkins  that  he 
must  cut  his  corners  up  to  the  circle  on  the  wrong 
side  of  his  papers.) 

JACK.  (Who  now  also  has  his  papers  for  the 
windmill.)  Miss  W.  do  you  know  what  happened? 
Someone  folded  this  that  didn't  fold  it  even. 

DR.  M.  Go  ahead  and  make  the  windmills,  and 
when  you  need  help,  ask,  and  we  will  give  it. 

(Howard  has  folded  his  square  nicely.) 

(To  Howard.)  Do  you  know  what  to  do  next? 
Yes,  fold  them  the  other  way. 

JACK.  Now  what  do  we  do?  (He  has  not 
folded  his  papers  very  evenly  on  the  square.) 

(Everyone  works  busily.  Miss  W.  helps  Edith 
on  one  of  her  two  papers,  and  sets  her  to  work 
getting  a  second  square  from  the  other  paper. 
Elwin  is  all  ready  to  pin  the  corners  of  his.  Jack, 
while  waiting  for  help,  is  sharpening  pencils  in  the 
pencil  sharpener.) 

JACK.  Dr.  M.,  will  you  tear  mine  [to  the  right 
size  of  square]  ? 

(Perkins  also  wants  help.) 

JACK.    Now  what  shall  I  do? 

DR.  M.    Fold  them  the  other  way. 

PERKINS.    What  do  we  do  now? 

DR.  M.  Come  over  here  to  the  window.  (She 
shows  Perkins  who  has  not  made  pinwheels  before 
just  how  to  treat  his  squares.)  We  want  both 
colors  to  show,  so  we  turn  the  colors  with  their 
backs  to  each  other,  and  then  take  them  with  both 
corners  together — and  stick  a  pin  through, — can 


332  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

you  do  that!  Take  both  together.  Get  one 
corner,  and  then  both  together,  and  when  you 
have  them  there,  so,  let's  stick  a  pin  through. 
Don't  tear  it  (as  Perkins  takes  it  into  his  hands), 
you  need  both  papers  together,  else  it  won't  go 
right.  See,  hold  the  pin  down, — push  it  through. 

(Elwin,  who  has  been  getting  along  well  with 
his,  is  afraid  it  is  going  to  pieces,  but  it  has  only 
slipped  off  the  pin,  and  Dr.  M.  fixes  the  corners 
together  again,  and  it  is  ready  for  fastening  to  the 
rod.) 

PERKINS.  What  shall  I  do  now?  (Dr.  M.  helps 
him  again  to  pin  his  corners  together,  taking  them 
lap  by  lap.  Elwin  and  Perkins  are  now  ready 
for  the  rod,  but  want  stars  and  Dr.  M.  explains 
that  the  stars  are  to  be  put  on  first,  and  he  cuts 
them  out.) 

ELWIN.  Look!  Look  at  my  windmill!  (It  is 
flying  around  on  the  pin  as  Elwin  holds  it,  blown 
by  the  breeze  from  the  window.  Elwin  then  makes 
a  very  strong  breeze  with  his  breath.) 

PERKINS.    Will  you  put  my  stick  in,  please  t 

DB.  M.  The  stick  cannot  go  in  until  the  star  is 
ready.  I  have  one  star  now.  (She  finishes  Per- 
kins' windmill,  and  bids  him  take  it  out  into  the 
open  air.)  I  think  it  will  turn  for  you  this  morn- 
ing. (Dr.  M.  finishes  Elwin' s.) 

GUY.  (Bringing  his  papers  to  Dr.  M.)  I  know 
one  thing  that  is  the  matter  with  mine.  I  haven 't 
attended  to  business. 

(Doris  has  been  working  on  her  mat.  Jack  crit- 
icises Edith  for  keeping  the  scissors  too  long,  he 
thinks.  Edith  resents  his  criticism.) 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      333 

(The  class  has  to  be  dismissed  as  the  autos  are 
waiting.  Elwin,  Guy,  Howard  and  Perkins  take 
their  finished  windmills,  Doris  a  finished  mat. 
The  other  children  give  up  their  partly  made 
windmills  which  are  to  be  finished  tomorrow.) 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY 

II 

BY  WALTER  F.  DEARBORN,  EDWARD  A. 
LINCOLN,  AND  EDWIN  A.  SHAW 

IN  1920  the  psychological  work  of  the  school 
was  undertaken  by  the  Psycho-Educational  Clinic 
of  the  Graduate  School  of  Education  of  Harvard 
University,  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Walter  F. 
Dearborn.  It  was  not  considered  necessary  to 
carry  out  investigations  in  quite  so  many  lines 
this  summer,  and  so  there  was  no  provision  made 
for  continuous  work  by  a  resident  psychologist. 
The  psychological  work  was  done  by  members  of 
the  Clinic  staff  who  visited  the  school  from  time 
to  time  while  it  was  in  session. 

The  first  project  undertaken  was  for  the  pur- 
pose of  aiding  the  school  in  the  organization  of 
its  groups  or  classes.  To  do  this  in  the  speediest 
possible  manner  it  was  decided  to  give  group  in- 
telligence examinations  to  all  the  children.  This 
was  done  in  July.  The  whole  school  was  given 
General  Examinations  1,  2  and  3  of  the  Dearborn 
Intelligence  Examinations,  Series  I,  and  those 
pupils  in  the  two  advanced  groups,  which  were 
composed  of  the  older  children,  were  tested  also 
with  the  Army  Alpha  Examination.  This  supple- 
mentary examination  was  necessary  because  the 

334 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      335 

superior  pupils  in  the  groups  of  older  children 
could  not  be  differentiated  on  the  Series  I  exami- 
nations which  were  devised  for  the  testing  of  chil- 
dren from  five  to  ten  years  old.  When  the  mental 
ages  and  intelligence  quotients  had  been  found 
they  were  considered  together  with  the  reports  of 
the  teachers,  and  several  pupils  were  changed  to 
other  classes  where  it  seemed  likely  that  the  work 
was  more  suited  to  their  several  abilities. 

Later  in  the  summer  practically  every  child  in 
the  school  was  given  the  Stanford-Binet  individual 
examination.  It  was  considered  very  much  worth 
while  to  do  this,  as  with  the  results  of  these  exami- 
nations there  became  available  data  for  two  rather 
important  studies,  one  on  the  relation  of  mental 
ages  and  intelligence  quotients  obtained  on  group 
tests  to  those  resulting  from  the  use  of  individual 
examinations,  and  the  other  concerning  the  con- 
stancy or  variation  of  intelligence  quotients  of  the 
same  individuals  upon  repeated  examinations. 

The  results  of  the  comparison  of  the  intelligence 
quotients  obtained  on  the  Dearborn  Group  Exam- 
ination with  those  obtained  on  the  Stanford-Binet 
individual  test  proved  very  satisfactory.  There 
were  some  discrepancies,  but  these  were  all  found 
among  the  older  pupils  for  whom  this  form  of  the 
Dearborn  Examination  was  not  devised,  so  they 
did  not  have  the  opportunity  to  make  scores  com- 
mensurate with  their  abilities.  It  was  quite  ap- 
parent, however,  that  group  test  results  could  be 
used  as  a  basis  of  preliminary  classification,  thus 
obviating  the  necessity  of  waiting  for  the  longer 
process  of  giving  individual  examinations  to  all 
the  pupils  in  the  school. 


336  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

The  question  as  to  whether  the  intelligence 
quotient  of  an  individual  remains  constant 
throughout  his  life  is  manifestly  a  very  important 
one  for  the  educator.  If  it  is  possible  by  training 
to  make  superior  children  out  of  those  who  are 
inferior  when  they  enter  school  our  educational 
system  will  be  quite  different  from  what  we  need 
if  the  inferior,  average  and  superior  remain  so 
in  spite  of  all  that  the  teachers  can  do.  This  ques- 
tion is  the  subject  of  some  controversy  at  present, 
and  as  the  number  of  children  to  whom  repeated 
tests  have  been  given  is  comparatively  small  these 
records  at  the  Peterborough  School  are  very  valu- 
able. There  were  found  in  the  group  21  children 
who  had  been  tested  more  than  once,  and  7  of 
these  had  been  tested  three  times.  The  differences 
in  the  successive  intelligence  quotients  were  for 
the  most  part  so  small  as  to  be  insignificant,  and 
even  where  larger  differences  were  found  they 
did  not  materially  change  the  classification  of  the 
pupil. 

At  the  close  of  the  session  a  careful  examination 
was  made  of  the  recorded  comments  of  the  teach- 
ers, and  a  report  on  each  child  embodying  the  chief 
educational  and  psychological  findings  of  the  sum- 
mer was  sent  to  the  parents. 

The  work  in  1921  was  conducted  much  as  it  had 
been  the  previous  summer.  Early  in  the  session  a 
group  examination  was  given  to  all  those  children 
who  were  at  the  school  for  the  first  time  in  order 
that  they  might  be  correctly  placed  in  the  classes. 
It  was  decided  to  repeat  the  individual  examina- 
tions on  all  pupils  for  the  purpose  of  continuing 
the  study  of  the  problem  of  intelligence  quotient 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      337 

constancy.  Further,  it  seemed  worth  while  to 
attempt  to  get  some  measures  of  physiological  as 
well  as  of  mental  development,  as  the  relation  be- 
tween mental  and  physiological  or  anatomical  age 
is  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  significant  in  the 
field  of  educational  psychology  at  the  present  time. 
A  word  or  two  about  the  general  significance  of 
this  problem  may  well  be  said  in  this  report. 

In  the  scientific  foundation  which  we  are  trying 
to  lay  for  education,  an  element  of  the  greatest 
importance  is  exact  knowledge  of  the  facts  and 
laws  of  individual  development.  We  cannot 
classify  children  properly,  select  the  gifted  or  the 
deficient  for  special  treatment,  deal  with  individ- 
uals of  unusual  traits,  adjust  our  teaching  or  our 
schools  to  the  various  levels  of  development,  or 
handle  our  human  material  with  maximum  effec- 
tiveness at  all,  unless  we  can  become  more  certain 
in  our  judgments  concerning  individual  cases.  We 
ought  to  be  able  to  study  any  given  child  as  an 
individual  in  the  light  of  comprehensive  knowl- 
edge of  individual  growth.  At  present  we  have 
little  such  knowledge  in  reliable  form,  because  the 
standards  by  which  we  measure  individuals  are 
based  on  averages  from  the  measurement  of 
groups.  We  have  standards  of  various  sorts 
(physical,  intellectual,  etc.)  for  children  of  any 
given  age ;  but  we  do  not  know  how  they  combine 
in  the  normal  or  typical  child,  nor  how  the  combi- 
nation varies  in  special  cases.  We  know  too  little 
about  the  variations  in  rates  and  directions  of 
growth  in  individuals.  Averages  may  remain  con- 
stant by  virtue  of  the  shifting  of  individuals.  We 
do  not  know  whether  to  expect,  in  any  given  case, 


338  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

a  steady,  even  growth,  an  acceleration  in  the  devel- 
opment of  certain  traits  or  phases  of  growth,  a 
retardation  in  other  traits  or  phases,  or  a  combi- 
nation of  these.  We  have  as  yet  only  an  inade- 
quate basis  for  educational  diagnosis,  and  we  lack 
a  safe  basis  for  prognosis.  The  study  of  special 
classes  (the  gifted,  the  defective,  the  retarded, 
non-readers,  e.g.)  can  go  but  little  beyond  its  pres- 
ent stage,  and  conclusions  from  tests  cannot  be 
further  confirmed,  until  we  have  a  body  of  data 
derived  from  repeated  observations  of  the  same  in- 
dividuals. The  combination  of  data  from  differ- 
ent groups  will  not  suffice.  It  hides  essential  facts, 
and  there  is  no  way  to  get  at  those  facts  except 
by  the  well-supported,  comprehensive,  intelli- 
gently directed  measurement  of  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  the  same  children  over  a  sufficient  period 
of  time. 

An  illustration  or  two  may  help  to  make  this 
clear.  A  girl  6  years  and  10  months  old  was 
recently  brought  to  the  Clinic  by  the  superinten- 
dent of  schools  in  a  neighboring  town.  Her  pa- 
rents had  just  entered  her  for  the  first  time  in 
school,  and  had  insisted  that  she  be  placed  in  the 
fifth  grade  with  children  who  were  on  the  average 
llMi  years  old.  The  superintendent  found  that 
the  child  could  do  the  work  of  that  grade,  but  be- 
cause of  her  youth  and  the  fact  that  she  had  never 
been  to  school  before,  he  placed  her  temporarily 
in  the  fourth  grade.  Just  before  her  entrance  to 
school  she  had  been  given,  individually,  a  group 
examination  upon  which  she  scored  a  mental  age 
of  12  years,  which  gave  her  an  intelligence  quotient 
of  175.  On  the  Stanf  ord-Binet  she  secured  a  men- 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      339 

tal  age  of  11  years,  making  161  her  intelligence 
quotient. 

This  child  from  the  age  of  three  had  been  sub- 
jected to  systematic  and  rigorous  instruction,  so 
that  in  the  next  three  years  she  had  covered  the 
work  of  the  first  four  grades  of  the  public  school 
and  had  done  some  of  the  work  of  the  fifth  grade. 
In  a  series  of  performance  tests,  for  which  her 
previous  training  could  have  given  her  little  prep- 
aration, she  did  but  little  better  than  the  children 
of  her  own  chronological  age.  It  was  also  quite 
noticeable  that  in  the  upper  ages  she  got  these 
items  which  seem  most  susceptible  of  being  an- 
swered through  what  the  child  has  learned,  and 
failed  on  those  which  appear  to  require  mature 
judgment  and  reasoning  power. 

Physically  there  is  much  to  be  desired  in  her 
development.  She  is  of  slender  build  and  anemic, 
though  there  is  evidence  of  certain  physiological 
development  in  advance  of  the  average  for  her 
age.  Since  her  entrance  into  the  public  school  she 
has  frequently  been  absent  on  account  of  illness. 

A  "mental  age'*  as  secured  in  the  tests  in  com- 
mon use  is  clearly  the  resultant  of  at  least  three 
factors, — native  intelligence,  physiological  matu- 
rity, and  "environment,"  the  latter  including  spe- 
cific training  or  practice.  The  standing  of  this 
girl  above  the  average  may  be  due  in  part  to  a 
slightly  superior  intelligence,  but  chiefly  to  the  hot- 
housing  process  to  which  she  has  been  subjected. 
This  specialized  training,  has,  as  in  the  case  of  all 
practice,  turned  her  growth  energy  into  the  de- 
velopment of  the  nervous  system  and  accelerated 
its  development  at  the  expense  of  the  general 


340  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

bodily  development.  Various  results  may  follow 
by  the  time  adolescence  is  reached;  (1)  the  child 
may  continue  her  unbalanced  development  with 
a  resulting  freakish  intellect  or  become  a  genius 
within  narrow  limits;  (2)  the  physiological 
changes  of  adolescence  may  be  completely  unset- 
tling with  a  nervous  breakdown  and  the  develop- 
ment of  psychopathic  traits;  (3)  the  demands  of 
general  somatic  development  may  become  such 
that  the  initial  acceleration  in  development  proves 
purely  temporary  and  the  child  will  settle  back 
to  the  general  level  of  mediocrity. 

A  different  state  of  affairs  is  indicated  in  the 
case  of  a  boy  who  was  first  tested  at  the  age  of 
five  years  and  nine  months.  In  four  successive 
annual  examinations  he  has  secured  an  intelligence 
quotient  closely  approximating  100.  His  parents 
are  both  persons  of  exceptional  ability,  who,  be- 
cause of  the  child 's  general  health  and  some  sus- 
picions of  defective  heart  action,  have  let  nature 
take  its  course  in  the  child's  development.  His 
present  status  is  believed  to  be  due  chiefly  to  his 
native  intelligence.  Physical  and  physiological 
measurements  and  indices  indicate  slow  develop- 
ment, and  this  condition  may  by  the  time  of  pu- 
bertal  acceleration  lead  to  his  passing  well  above 
the  general  average  for  his  age. 

These  cases  show  clearly  the  need  for  repeated 
measurements  to  give  us  material  as  a  basis  for 
prognosis  of  superior  and  normal  children.  The 
problems  of  diagnosis  and  prognosis  of  the  dull 
and  mentally  defective  are  quite  as  important,  and 
can  be  solved  in  no  other  way. 

Need  of  such  measurements  is  not  confined  to 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      341 

the  problems  of  the  individual.  Henmon  and  Liv- 
ingstone in  a  recent  and  important  communica- 
tion, "Comparative  Variability  at  Different 
Ages,"  make  the  following  statements:  "There  is 
a  widespread  belief  which  frequently  finds  expres- 
sion in  the  literature  of  education,  that  individual 
differences  are  greater  during  adolescence  than  at 
any  other  time  in  life  and  that  the  development 
from  childhood  to  adolescence  is  not  gradual  but 
saltatory." 

"This  theory  has  important  applications,  and  its 
influence  is  plainly  visible  in  our  present  system 
of  school  organization.  The  contention  that  youth 
is  the  period  of  great  fluctuation  and  that  there- 
fore throughout  the  high-school  age  there  is  a  de- 
cided increase  in  variability  in  all  mental  functions 
implies  that  the  secondary  school  should  provide 
a  wider  range  of  elections  in  the  curriculum, 
smaller  classes  and  more  individualization  of  in- 
struction, and  greater  versatility  in  methods  of 
presentation  of  subject-matter  in  order  to  appeal 
to  the  widely  varied  characteristics  of  the  high- 
school  class.  On  the  other  hand  (and  this  is  the 
more  serious  consideration),  the  implied  greater 
similarity  between  children  in  the  grades  offers 
an  excuse  for  larger  classes,  for  poorer  teachers, 
and  for  forcing  all  pupils  through  the  same  proc- 
ess and  by  the  same  methods  until  the  approach 
of  adolescence.*'  After  a  thorough-going  review 
of  the  available  literature  on  the  subject  they  con- 
clude with  this  statement,  with  which  our  experi- 
ence coincides:  "What  we  need  for  a  final  answer 
to  the  problem  is  repeated  measurement  of  a  great 
number  of  unselected  individuals  over  the  entire 


342  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

period  of  childhood  and  adolescence.  Such  data 
are,  of  course,  nowhere  to  be  found  now." 

Despite  the  large  number  of  important  inves- 
tigations in  this  field,  each  has  hitherto  been  con- 
cerned, with  minor  exceptions,  with  but  one  aspect 
or  criterion  of  development.  Dr.  Baldwin,  for  ex- 
ample, presents  a  bibliography  of  911  titles  in  con- 
nection with  the  publication  of  an  important  inves- 
tigation on  one  phase  of  this  problem. 

The  history  of  the  development  of  measures  of 
mental  growth  clearly  shows  that  while  no  single 
mental  test  was  sufficiently  indicative  of  the  facts, 
an  averaging  of  the  results  of  several  different 
tests  or  cross-sections  of  mental  differentiation 
led  to  results  of  great  practical  importance.  Wit- 
ness the  extraordinarily  extensive  use  of  group 
and  individual  intelligence  tests  in  schools  at  the 
present  time. 

Similarly,  while  studies  of  physical  growth, 
using  as  indicators  height  and  weight  and  bodily 
differentiation,  rate  of  ossification  of  the  bones, 
dentition,  and  pubescence,  have  each  given  results 
of  importance,  no  one  measure  has  been  adequate 
in  itself.  No  one  has  taken  the  step  noted  in  the 
case  of  the  mental  tests  and  applied  all  of  these 
measures  to  the  same  individuals  and  then  struck 
an  average. 

Further,  we  are  dealing  with  an  individual  or- 
ganism whose  changing  behavior  (as  noted  by  the 
mental  tests)  is  only  one  further  indication  of  its 
development.  No  one  has  yet  combined  and  corre- 
lated these  average  findings  of  the  " physical"  de- 
velopment with  average  findings  in  regard  to  the 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  LABORATORY      343 

mental  development  of  the  same  individuals  and 
again  struck  an  average. 

The  importance  of  repeated  measurements  on 
the  same  individual  in  any  one  of  these  fields  has 
long  been  recognized.  (Compare,  for  example,  the 
studies  of  Wissler,  Baldwin  and  Porter  with  the 
studies  of  height  and  weight  based  on  measure- 
ment of  different  individuals.)  Previous  studies 
of  each  of  these  fields  (mental,  anatomical,  physio- 
logical age)  are  sufficient  to  supply  working  stand- 
ards from  which  the  individual  may  be  computed 
and  averaged. 

The  mental  ages  and  intelligence  quotients  of 
inferior,  normal  or  superior  children  are  now 
based  on  comparisons  with  the  chronological  age. 
Everyone  who  is  familiar  with  this  field  knows 
that  the  intelligence  quotient  ought  to  be 

Mental  age  ,        ,  Mental  age 

Physiological  age  Chronological  age 

but  from  lack  of  knowledge  no  one  is  able  to  make 
more  than  a  rough  approximation. 

Since  many  of  the  children  in  the  Peterborough 
School  attend  for  a  number  of  successive  years, 
it  seemed  that  the  situation  offered  an  excellent 
opportunity  to  start,  in  a  small  way,  such  an  in- 
vestigation. Accordingly,  an  X-Ray  machine  was 
temporarily  installed  in  the  school  and  a  trained 
operator  secured  radiographs  of  the  wrist  bones 
and  the  sella  turcica  of  each  pupil.  A  careful  study 
was  made  of  each  child 's  dentition,  and  an  attempt 
was  made  to  estimate  the  pubertal  stage  of  devel- 
opment. 


344  A  SCHOOL  IN  ACTION 

It  is,  of  course,  impossible  to  make  any  consider- 
able report  as  to  findings  until  a  second  series  of 
measurements  has  been  taken  on  the  same  pupils. 
However,  the  work  of  the  summer  gave  additional 
data  on  the  question  of  intelligence  quotient  con- 
stancy, as  the  records  now  contain  repeated  ex- 
amination of  27  children,  7  of  whom  have  been 
examined  in  four  successive  years.  The  indica- 
tions are  that  such  constancy  exists,  though  there 
are  some  interesting  changes.  These  latter  may 
be  explained  when  there  is  more  evidence  concern- 
ing their  physiological  development.  The  whole 
experiment  gives  promise  of  interesting  and  sig- 
nificant results  if  it  can  be  carried  forward  in  the 
future. 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 

y<\ 


1330 
MAY  9    1960 


SUBJECT  TO  FINE  IF 

EDUCATION 


JHN15 


RECEIVED 

JUN  14  1974 

EDU. /PSYCH. 
LIBRARY 

QUARTER  LOAN 
APR  2 

Form  L-9~10n»-5,'28 


MW6 


NOT  RETURNED  TO 

LIBRARY 


iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

II  III  II II I II II 1 1 II I  Ilii'H 

A     000  988  957     7 


Library 

I  B 

loll, 

337 


III 


UCLA-ED/PSYCH  Library 

LB  1026  S37 


L  005  633  689  4 


; 

Y  OF  CALIFORNIA, 

.IBRARY, 

NGELES.  CALIF. 


